What are the biggest mistakes made in Estate Planning?

Estate Planning covers both events during life and after death.  Here are some of the biggest Estate Planing mistakes that are made: (1) Failure to plan for incapacity – everyone should have both a financial and health care Power of Attorney; (2) Failure to plan for long term care expenses – if possible, one should have long term care insurance or plan for Medicaid because everyone is living longer now; (3) Outdated will, trust or beneficiary designations – you need to review these documents at leaast every five years, or whenever major life changes orccur; (4) Poor choice of Attorney in Fact, Tustee or Personal Representative – appoint someone who is respected by the family and has the time and ability to serve.  Sometimes a professional Trustee is best. (5) Lack of adequate records –if you do not keep very good asset records, your next-of-kin may miss a mutual fund, life insurance policy or other asset; (6) consider using a trust instead of a will – this avoids the time and expense of probate and allows you to keep assets in the family for several generations, thus assuring, e.g. that your grandchildren get part of your assets instead of them possibly being squandered by your children; (7) Failure to communicate – letting your children and other family members know you plans can avoid squabbles and hard feelings later; (8) Failure to plan ahead financially – structure a life insurance policy or other financial vehicle to provide cash immediately after death to provide for the funeral and other immediate expenses.