It is not nice to think about it, but there will come a time when you will no longer be alive and your possessions and assets will be passed on to your friends and other loved ones. This is known as estate planning. With an Estate Planning Attorney, estate planning accompanies more that determine who gets what, but also allows you to make decisions regarding your health care, burial decisions, taxes, avoiding probate, and ensuring that children receive the property that they are owed.
DO I NEED AN ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY?
Estate planning is aimed at ensuring that your needs are met at the end of your life and that your property is distributed in accordance with your wishes.
Estate planning can be beneficial to help take care of some important issues:
Property distribution: Wills, trusts, and living trusts can all be employed to ensure that your property is distributed to the people you’d like it to, without ending up in the hands of the state. It also can avoid competing claims made by beneficiaries.
Inheritance of young children: Children under 18 cannot legally own property, so a custodian can look over their interests in the event they are left property.
Health care: Instructions regarding healthcare can be left in a living will, ensuring that you receive the care you need even if you are unable to voice it yourself.
Paying taxes: Minimize the amount of tax your loved ones may need to pay upon receipt of property and assets.
Burial arrangements: Take care of your final arrangements by outlining what you would like to happen to your body after death, any donations to be made in your name, or the type of memorial you would like enacted.
Avoiding probate: Bypass the court and the lengthy process of distributing property in order to ensure all loves ones get what they need in due time.
Ensuring that you are taken care of even beyond death can make a significant difference in the lives of your loved ones, and such, needs to be approached with the care and consideration it deserves.
Speaking with an estate planning or probate attorney can teach you of your options and what you can employ that best benefits the lives of your loved ones.
