For most people, their focus in estate planning is to ensure they pass along assets to beneficiaries. You need to accomplish more than a simple transfer, though, if you don't want to risk leaving some of the estate's beneficiaries in a lurch. An estate planning attorney will want to look at these three issues to ensure your beneficiaries are in the best possible shape.

Money to Pay Taxes and Debts

Nothing moves forward from an estate until the decedent's taxes and debts are settled. The government has every right to insist upon probate if taxes are left unpaid. It's hard to time things so you don't leave any taxes behind so you want to have some money available to settle up with local, state, and federal tax authorities.

Similarly, creditors have the right to demand probate to ensure they're paid. In the worst scenario, this can become like a bankruptcy proceeding where a court-appointed administrator sells assets. Also, if you have secured credit on something like a car loan or home mortgage, an unpaid creditor can simply take the asset to settle the account.

Beneficiaries may also realize tax events after collecting assets. For example, stocks transferred to beneficiaries lead to capital gains events. You may want to include some money to cover those taxes, especially if the beneficiary isn't particularly flush with cash.

Identification and Contact Information

You should always be able to identify your beneficiaries. With family members as heirs, this is relatively simple since someone will usually know an estate's grantor has passed. However, a non-profit organization as a beneficiary might not be aware.

Get names and contact information for all of your beneficiaries. Make sure to have alternate contacts for each one, too. You can ask your estate planning attorney to contact each beneficiary once a year to keep tabs on folks who've moved, married, divorced, or otherwise experienced some life changes.

Keep the Will Current

You should conduct an annual review of your will, even if it's a relatively simple one. This will ensure none of the details are so out of date as to render them problematic or meaningless. For example, the status of your primary residence might change once you've paid the mortgage. When this change occurs, you want your will to reflect it.

Similarly, you may need to update the list of the beneficiaries. For example, you might have welcomed a new grandchild in the last year.