One of your most important responsibilities as a parent is to select and legally document guardians for your children. This doesn’t mean just naming godparents or trusting that grandparents will step in if necessary. It means consciously deciding who would raise your children if you cannot. And then it means legally documenting your choices and making sure the people you’ve chosen know what to do if they’re ever called upon.

Going on vacation entails lots of planning: packing luggage, buying plane tickets, making hotel reservations, and confirming rental vehicles. But one thing many people forget to do is plan for the worst. Traveling, especially in foreign destinations, means you’ll likely be at greater risk than usual for illness, injury, and even (wait for it…) death.

Since estate planning involves thinking about death, many people put it off until their senior years or simply ignore it all together. I get it though. Procrastinating with planning is common; no one wants to think of death, so why would you spend time planning for it? But the hard to face truth is that we will all die at some point, and no one has the crystal ball to know when. How would you feel knowing that your failure to plan created major hardship, expense, and mess for the loved ones and assets you left behind? I guess that’s a rhetorical question since you won’t be around to know how you feel, so let’s turn the question around. How would you feel if you created a solid estate plan and knew your loved ones were always protected? Peace of mind, right?

When discussing estate planning, a Will is what most people think of first. Indeed, Wills have been the most popular method for passing on assets to heirs for hundreds of years. But Wills are not your only option, and in most cases, your worst option. That’s because if you rely on a will alone to pass on what matters, you’re guaranteeing your family must go to court when you die. And that is time consuming and expensive.

In contrast, other estate planning vehicles, such as Trusts, which used to be available only to the uber wealthy, are now being used by those of all income levels and asset values to keep their loved ones out of the court process.

Once you have chosen the people you want to receive any of your assets — either from a Will, a Trust, a Life Insurance Policy, or a Retirement or Bank Account — the way you designate how they will inherit should be a key consideration.