If your estate is less than you expected, you may want to concentrate on accumulation in the coming years, he says. If you're satisfied with the size of the estate, preservation is likely your priority.

“Your net worth statement is a record that should be updated on a regular basis and kept with valuable papers. It should be updated every few years or after some important life event has occurred, such as after children finish college, retirement, marriages or divorces, the addition of children and grandchildren, a business success or failure, a series of gifts or other important events,” Ehmke says.

Once you've determined what you have, the next step is to choose the tools to help you reach your goal of protecting your assets, reducing your taxes and capital gains. You need tools that will allow you to continue to conduct your business on a daily basis, provide an income stream for the day you decide to retire, provide for your spouse and children, and be protected from liability.

Such tools might include a will, life insurance, various forms of trusts, annuities, gifting, etc. And, of course, a will is a key feature in the estate plan.

Another important aspect of estate planning is communication, not only among the principal owners of the estate but the people and entities who figure into the disposition of the estate. What are their goals and wishes, do they mesh with your goals and wishes for your estate, and how can you resolve those issues?

Lethert and Hoffman estimate the cost of a simple will to be several hundred dollars, with wills utilizing some sort of trust running in the neighborhood of $1,000 to $2,000.

“A family limited partnership could cost $10,000 to $20,000,” Lethert estimates, “but you have to remember that if you have a sizable estate, a 55% estate tax rate could cost an unprotected estate much more than that.”

Very large estates generally will utilize a team of professionals for estate planning. This would include a lawyer, accountant, insurance agent, a certified financial planner and a banker.

“You also need to consider tax-planning strategies, a durable power of attorney and an advanced health care directive to protect you and your family in the event the primary earner is incapacitated. You should have all those documents in place,” Lethert says.

For those with simpler estates, Lethert says estate-planning costs can be minimized by developing your own list of assets and liabilities and by educating yourself on the process and instruments of estate planning.

“Those two steps you can do yourself. You don't have to go see the lawyer first. Having the correct documents is where you start to pay some well-spent money,” Lethert says. “And some of these services involved in estate planning may be tax-deductible.”

Communication throughout the process is a big key to successful estate planning, all sources say — communication between principals, between principals and beneficiaries, and between the principals and their advisors.

“It all starts with overcoming inertia,” Lethert says. “If not, you can end up leaving the problem to your family. Without estate planning, what you worked so hard for all your life to build could present a huge financial challenge for your family to retain.”

• Make up your mind to begin planning. Without your buy-in to the estate-planning concept, it won't happen.

• Take a good look at where you are today by developing a net worth statement. The inventory of assets and liabilities should include firm market values, not those utilized by your lender, which are likely conservative numbers. Talk not only to your banker but your appraiser, says Bruce Hoffman, vice president, Investments and Financial Consultants, Wachovia Securities, LLC in Corpus Christi, TX, and a partner in his family's 130-year-old ranch.

• Hoffman adds that the financial statement should include not only the assets you have but what you think you might inherit, particularly if your parents are elderly.

• Once you've accounted for and documented your assets, incomes and liabilities, set your goals. Sit down with your spouse and decide what's most important to you.

• Organize your team. It might include your banker, your insurance agent, financial planner and Extension agent.

• Plan for risk. What happens if one of the principals dies prematurely or is disabled in an accident?

• Revisit the plan periodically. Family events — births of children or grandchildren, divorce, etc., can necessitate a periodic review of the plan to determine if changes are needed.