What Are the 7 Steps in the Estate Planning Process in Texas?

Many Texans want to protect their loved ones and assets through an effective estate plan, but do not know where to begin. The estate planning process involves creating legal tools that determine what happens to your property when you die, and your finances and healthcare if you become incapacitated. While every estate plan is unique, you can use a seven-step structure to ensure you create a comprehensive, efficient plan. So, what are the 7 steps in the estate planning process?

At Lewis Law Firm PLLC, we guide you through each part of this journey with empathy, clarity, and strategic focus. Our mission is to help Texans protect what matters most—family, legacy, and peace of mind. We take pride in offering personalized service and simplifying what others often overcomplicate.

What Are the 7 Steps in the Estate Planning Process?

Clients often ask us, How does estate planning work in Texas? We explain that it begins with setting clear goals and ends with making sure your plans reflect your goals as life changes. To create a comprehensive estate plan, you should:

• Identify your goals,
• Gather information and documents,
• Inventory your assets and liabilities,
• Learn about your options and choose key decision-makers,
• Create your plan,
• Inform your loved ones, and
• Revisit your plan regularly.

Hiring an estate planning lawyer is essential, as we can guide you through each step. Many clients also ask how much does estate planning cost, since understanding potential expenses early helps them plan with confidence.

Step 1: Identify Your Goals

The first step is to consider your goals and priorities. Many people begin estate planning with goals like:

• Ensuring specific people inherit particular property. You might want certain family members, friends, or charities to receive meaningful assets such as a home, a business, heirlooms, or investments.
• Avoiding probate. Probate is the court-based process of settling someone’s estate after death. It can be time-consuming, public, and costly, so some plan to pass assets outside probate.
• Protecting assets. Estate planning can safeguard your property from certain risks, like lawsuits or creditors, and working with an asset protection lawyer can help you choose the right strategies to shield what you’ve built.
• Minimizing taxes. Strategic planning can reduce estate, inheritance, and income taxes, allowing more of your estate to go to the people or causes you choose.
• Providing for minor children. Naming guardians and establishing strategies to manage children’s inheritance so they are cared for if something happens to you.

Clear goals make it easier to select the right legal tools and guide the next stages of the process.

Step 2: Gather Information and Documents

After you define your goals, begin collecting details and paperwork your attorney will need to create a complete and accurate plan. Gather:

• Deeds, titles, or other documentation of real estate or vehicle ownership;
• Information for bank accounts, retirement plans, and investment accounts;
• Life insurance policies;
• Business documents showing asset ownership and shares between partners;
• Information about mortgages, credit card balances, or other outstanding debts;
• Existing estate planning documents, if any;
• Recent federal and state tax returns; and
• Account lists, usernames, and passwords for online accounts.

Your attorney can help you identify and even locate necessary documents and information.

Step 3: Inventory Your Assets and Liabilities (Your Estate)

Consulting your gathered documents, make a comprehensive list of what you own and owe—collectively, your estate. Your inventory should include:

• Real estate holdings and their estimated values;
• Bank, retirement, and investment accounts with current balances;
• Personal property like vehicles, jewelry, or collectibles;
• Business ownership interests and intellectual property; and
• Mortgages, loans, and credit card balances.

A clear, complete inventory allows you to create a comprehensive plan.

Step 4: Learn About Your Options and Choose Key Decision-Makers

Before you decide how to structure your plan, your attorney will explore the legal tools available to you, such as:

• Will—declare who receives your property after you die;
• Trusts—place assets into a trust for a trustee to manage based on terms you set to benefit one or more beneficiaries;
• Powers of attorney—authorize someone to handle financial, legal, or medical affairs if you become incapacitated;
• Advance directive (living will)—explain what medical treatments you do or do not want in the event of incapacity; and
• Beneficiary designations—name who should receive specific accounts or policies.

Several of these documents require you to select decision-makers who will play a role in your estate plan, like your executor, who manages your probate estate using your will after you die. The people you choose should be dependable, responsible, and familiar with your plans. Ask them whether they are willing before you officially designate them.

Step 5: Create Your Plan

Next, your attorney prepares the documents needed to implement your plan. We work with you in making adjustments and modifications to ensure your plan meets your needs. Once complete, you sign these documents to make them active.

Wills in particular have strict legal requirements, so it is crucial to follow the law carefully when creating, signing, and witnessing them.

Creating your plan also involves reviewing and updating beneficiary designations, such as:

• Life insurance policies,
• Retirement accounts,
• Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts, and
• Transfer-on-death (TOD) investment accounts.

Your lawyer will help you incorporate these assets smoothly into your overall estate plan. We can also coordinate estate plans with business succession planning.

Step 6: Inform Your Loved Ones

Once you have your core plan, ensure you provide details to at least one other person. Inform them about:

• Where exactly to find your documents,
• How to access those documents,
• Who to contact for guidance, and
• Your general wishes.

If you do not communicate with your loved ones, they may not know what to do, even if you have a detailed, comprehensive plan. This lack of clarity can lead to delays or confusion about next steps, including questions like what if the executor does not probate the will.

Step 7: Revisit Your Plan Regularly

Review your plan:

• Every three to five years,
• After a major life event like marriage or the birth of a child, and
• When your priorities shift.

Keeping your documents updated means aligning your plans with your life and goals as they change over time.

Start Your Estate Planning Journey with Lewis Law Firm PLLC

At Lewis Law Firm PLLC, we guide you through the estate planning process with compassion, strategically tailored advice, and a focus on you and your loved ones’ peace of mind. If you are ready to begin or have questions about how estate planning works in Texas, contact Lewis Law Firm PLLC today. We are proud to be your trusted guide.