Best Practices Every Texas Family Should Review in 2026
As a new year begins, Texans need to pause and make sure their estate planning reflects their current lives, families, and financial picture. A well‑crafted plan helps ensure that assets pass according to your wishes, medical decisions are honored, and loved ones are supported when it matters most.
1. Review Your Will and Any Trusts: Your will and any trusts are the cornerstone of your estate plan, and they should evolve as your life changes. Major events such as marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, a death in the family, or a significant change in assets often require updates.
When reviewing these documents, consider:
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- Whether beneficiaries are current and accurately named.
- Whether specific gifts are still appropriate given your current assets and relationships.
- Whether your chosen executor or trustee is still willing, able, and the best person for the role.
A periodic review with your attorney helps prevent unintended results and avoids confusion for your family later.
2. Update Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Directives: Financial and medical powers of attorney ensure someone you trust can act on your behalf if you become incapacitated. Without these documents, loved ones may be forced into court processes to manage your finances or make healthcare decisions for you.
Key questions to ask each year:
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- Are your named financial and medical agents still the right people to serve.
- Do your healthcare directives clearly state your wishes regarding life‑sustaining treatment, organ donation, and end‑of‑life care.
- Have you changed doctors or medical providers, and do your agents know how to contact them.
Refreshing these documents periodically helps your agents act confidently in line with your current values and preferences.
3. Revisit Life Insurance Coverage: Life insurance often plays a central role in providing financial stability for a surviving spouse, children, or other dependents. As your family and financial responsibilities grow or change, your coverage amount and structure may need to be adjusted.
During your review, consider:
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- Whether coverage is still sufficient given your income, debts, and long‑term goals.
- Whether the policy beneficiaries match your estate planning documents.
- Whether riders or supplemental benefits still fit your situation.
Coordinating beneficiary designations with your will or trust helps avoid conflicting instructions and unintended results.
4. Check Beneficiary Designations on Accounts: Many important assets pass by beneficiary designation rather than under your will, including retirement accounts, life insurance, and many financial accounts. If these designations are outdated, your assets may bypass your estate plan and go to the wrong person.
Each year, review:
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- Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, IRAs, and pensions.
- Bank, brokerage, and investment accounts with pay‑on‑death or transfer‑on‑death designations.
- Any annuities or similar contracts with named beneficiaries.
Confirm that these designations are consistent with your overall estate planning strategy and current family situation.
5. Safeguard and Manage Precious Metals, Fine Art, and Gemstones: For clients with collections of precious metals, fine art, or gemstones, these assets deserve special attention in your estate plan. These items often hold both significant monetary value and deep personal meaning, and they require specific planning to ensure they are preserved, properly valued, and transferred according to your wishes.
Precious Metals (Gold, Silver, Platinum)
Inventory and Documentation: Maintain a detailed inventory of all precious metal holdings, including:
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- Type of metal and purity (for example, 14K gold, 999 silver).
- Weight and quantity of each item.
- Purchase date, price, and source of acquisition.
- Current estimated value and date of valuation.
- Location where items are stored.
Appraisal and Valuation: Have your precious metals professionally appraised by a qualified numismatist or precious metals dealer, and update appraisals every three to five years or after significant market shifts. Include copies of appraisals in your estate planning notebook so your executor and beneficiaries understand the value of what they are inheriting.
Storage and Security: Store precious metals in a secure location such as a safe deposit box, home safe, or insured depository vault. Document the location and provide your executor or trustee with access instructions, and review insurance coverage to confirm that these assets are adequately protected against loss or theft.
Tax Considerations: Precious metals are treated as collectibles for federal income tax purposes and may be subject to higher capital gains tax rates upon sale, so discuss with your tax advisor how a step‑up in basis at death and potential estate taxes should be handled in your plan.
Fine Art and Collectibles
Professional Appraisal and Documentation: Fine art should be appraised by a qualified art appraiser who specializes in your type of collection. A good appraisal will include a detailed description, photographs, provenance, condition, and a current fair market value with the valuation date, and should be updated periodically or when markets move significantly.
Insurance and Protection: Collections often need specialized fine art insurance that goes beyond standard homeowner’s coverage. Make sure the storage environment, security measures, and transit practices meet your insurer’s requirements to preserve both physical condition and coverage.
Succession Planning for Collections: Decide whether you want your collection to stay together, be divided among family members, donated, or sold, and identify which beneficiaries have the interest and capacity to care for specific pieces. Clear written instructions can reduce the risk of conflict and help preserve both value and family harmony.
Tax Planning and Charitable Contributions: Donating selected works to museums or charities can yield meaningful income tax deductions and may help reduce estate tax exposure, especially for high‑value collections. Coordinate these gifts with your overall estate, income tax, and philanthropic goals.
Gemstones and Jewelry
Professional Gemological Certification: Have significant gemstones certified by a reputable gemological laboratory so that carat weight, color, clarity, cut, and any treatments are clearly documented. Certification provides objective support for valuation, insurance, and tax reporting.
Comprehensive Inventory: Create a detailed inventory of jewelry and gemstone holdings that includes descriptions, photos, purchase dates and prices, current appraised values, locations, and insurance details. Keeping this inventory with your estate planning records helps your executor quickly understand what exists and how it should be handled.
Storage, Security, and Insurance: Store high‑value pieces in secure locations such as safe deposit boxes or high‑quality home safes and ensure that insurance coverage is sufficient for loss, theft, and damage. Provide your executor with clear instructions about where items are kept and how they can be accessed.
Family Communications and Heirlooms: If certain pieces are family heirlooms, consider documenting who should receive which item and why. This can be done through specific bequests in your will or a separate memorandum referenced by your estate plan to reduce misunderstandings and disputes.
Liquidity and Estate Administration: Because metals, art, and gemstones may take time to sell and can be volatile in value, discuss with your attorney how your estate will generate cash to pay taxes, debts, and expenses without forcing a rushed sale of prized items. Life insurance, cash reserves, or other liquid assets can provide breathing room for a thoughtful sales strategy.
Organize and Safeguard Important Documents: Even the most carefully drafted documents cannot help if no one can find them. Organizing and safeguarding your estate planning records makes it easier for your loved ones to act quickly and confidently in a crisis.
Consider:
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- Keeping originals in a fireproof safe, secure digital vault, or other protected location.
- Ensuring your executor, trustee, or agents know where documents are stored and how to access them.
- Maintaining an updated list of key documents, accounts, professional advisors, and asset inventories, including collections and appraisals.
6. Consider Tax and Lifetime Gifting Strategies: While Texas does not impose a state estate tax, federal estate tax rules may affect larger estates, especially those holding concentrated collections. Regular reviews with your advisors can keep your plan tax‑efficient.
Topics to discuss with your attorney and tax advisor include:
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- Whether your projected estate size could trigger federal estate tax.
- Use of lifetime gifts to reduce the size of your taxable estate, including gifts of art or gemstones to family members or charities.
- Coordination of charitable gifts with your overall planning.
- Tax implications of passing collectible assets at death versus selling or gifting them during lifetime.
7. Do Not Overlook Digital Assets: Many people now hold meaningful value—sentimental or financial—in digital assets, such as online investment platforms, cryptocurrency wallets, and cloud‑stored records that may relate to your collections. Make sure someone you trust can access these accounts, passwords, seed phrases, hot and cold wallets and records when needed.
8. Address Special Family Circumstances: Families with minor children, beneficiaries with special needs, blended families, or beneficiaries who struggle with finances often require additional planning tools, such as special needs trusts or spendthrift protections. Your collections may need special handling in these contexts as well.
9. Schedule a Regular Estate Plan Review: Estate planning is not a one‑time event; it should grow as your life, assets, and goals evolve. Many Texans benefit from a full review every few years or after major life or financial changes, including significant changes in the value or composition of collections.
It’s essential to consult with an experienced estate planning attorney to determine the best approach for your specific circumstances and ensure your estate planning documents are properly prepared and legally sound. Mr. Michael A. Weaver, Partner at Saunders | Walsh, specializes in estate planning law and looks forward to working with your family to protect your legacy assets. Call us today to schedule your consultation with Mr. Weaver.