The Top 10 Advantages of Estate Planning
Taking care of your family has always been the No. 1 priority in your life, and that isn’t going to change. The best way to make sure they are taken care of after you pass is to establish an estate plan while you are still of sound mind. Here are the top 10 advantages of creating an estate plan:
The estate plan will provide enough money for your surviving spouse to continue to care for the family. If both you and your spouse pass, an estate plan will name appointed guardians to care for your children.
Your estate plan will outline exactly where your assets are to go in the event of your death. This leaves no questions to be resolved by the courts or cause for family discord. You can use your estate plan to set up a special trust for children and grandchildren.
It can be difficult to plan the funeral of a loved one when grieving. When working on your estate plan, you can outline your wishes for funeral arrangements and even set aside funds for them. This takes some of the burden off your family during this difficult time.
If you are passionate about a local cause or charitable organization, an estate plan can allow you to support them after your passing.
Life is unpredictable. If you should ever become mentally or physically incapacitated, an estate plan will outline your wishes regarding life and who will make medical decisions on your behalf.
By crafting an estate plan, you should be able to minimize the amount of taxes collected on your estate, which results in your beneficiaries keeping more of the money you set aside for them.
You’ll need someone to serve as the executor of your estate to make sure everything is handled properly. Your estate plan will name this person, which will save money and simplify the administration process.
Do you have a child who has a disability? Or perhaps you have grandchildren who will be attending college in the future. Through your estate plan, you can set up a special trust to provide funds to support them.
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Ensure a business continues with a succession plan. If you own your own business, you’ll want to establish some kind of plan to keep it going after you pass. An estate plan will name your successor and outline what happens to your interest in the business.
As you can see, there is a lot that goes into estate planning, and none of these areas are ones you want to leave up in the air. By working with professional estate planning attorneys, you can make sure you have thought of everything.
Without a will, your property may not go to who you want. Much of it can be tied up in probate for years, which means your family won’t get the assets they want and potentially need until it’s all settled. You can’t make assumptions that everything is going to go the way you want. Legal documentation is the only way to ensure your wishes are met.
Take Advantage of Estate Planning
Estate planning can be done easily and without spending a lot of time or money on the process. This isn’t something you have to wait on because it can be done at any age. The moment you have property, some kind of estate plan should be established. Wills and trusts can always be changed, so it is better to put something into place now. As your assets change and various details change within your family, you can always go back and modify the legal documents to account for your new circumstances.
Contact us at Gigliotti Law Group today to learn how you can protect your assets and ensure that your family is taken care of.