DSUMF Newsletter October 15, 2025
Next week, October 20 to 26, is Estate Planning Awareness Week. That may be of particular interest to us as Methodists, since the Book of Discipline asks each church to “Emphasize the need for adults of all ages to have a will and an estate plan and provide information on the preparation of those to the members of the congregation.”
So what is an estate plan, anyway, and how do you go about getting started with one? Here are some steps in the process that should be useful.
- Consider your family, close friends, church, and other nonprofits that are important to you.
- Make an inventory. What do you own? What do you owe?
- When you are gone, where do you want the things you own to go and who should get them?
- Who is best positioned to carry out your wishes, distribute your assets, and pay your debts?
- Having considered those four things, next meet with a trusted professional to create and document your plan. For most people, that will be at least preparing a will, and for many that will be a trust.
- Think about how you want to be remembered. You can carry on support for a cherished project through your estate plan.
- Share your plan with your family, church, and any other organizations that will be remembered in your estate plan. That is especially important if you are supporting a specific goal or project in your plan.
- Relax. You now have an estate plan.
- Remember to review it every few years. Laws change. Organizations change. People change. Keep your estate plan up to date.
- Let your family and the person who will carry out your wishes, know where they can quickly find your plan, your keys, your bills, your passwords. Desert Southwest United Methodist Foundation has a handy book to help you document those things. It’s called, I’m Dead. Now What? We are happy to provide a copy if you would like us to do an estate planning presentation for your church.
Meanwhile, anticipate seeing more news this month about the various ways you can organize your estate plan. And, as always, if the Desert Southwest United Methodist Foundation can help you or your congregation with estate planning information, we’re happy to do so.
Blessings,
Anne Green
Executive Director
602-798-8202
agreen@dsumf.org