Unfortunately, too many people wait until it’s too late to set up an estate plan that will protect your family (especially children) and distribute to your heirs. Many wrongly assume that a Will is all they need. Tragically, a Will falls far short of what most people need. A Will guarantees probate! If you want your heirs to avoid years of hassle and expense, then you should strongly consider reviewing your estate plan and setting up the correct entities such as a Revocable Living Trust.
There are many components involved in estate planning. Without prior experience, the process can be highly overwhelming. By working with a professional estate planning company, you can get the help you need to review an estate plan to ensure it is in accordance with your financial needs and personal circumstances.
PEACE of Mind
The main reason for estate planning is to provide you with peace of mind. You can help to secure the financial health of your family in the future after you have passed on and are unable to continue providing for them. The word peace can also be an acronym that applies to the context of estate planning. Below, we will explore the different components involved in the whole process.
P – Powers of Attorney
There are two different types of powers of attorney which are property and healthcare. These instruments can be narrow or broad depending on your personal needs. A healthcare power enables you to appoint an agent to make healthcare decisions on your behalf when you cannot make informed decisions due to an injury or illness. A power of attorney for property provides another person with access to manage your property including selling it, putting it up for investment, paying bills, and others. Death will automatically terminate the powers of attorney.
E – Estate Planning Documents
Estate planning involves coming up with documents that determine how your estate will be administered upon your demise. Estate planning documents include trust agreements, wills, life insurance beneficiaries, powers of attorney, guardianship elections, and buy-sell agreements.
A – Asset Protection, Attorney, and Attorney’s Fees
Asset protection is one important component of an estate planning strategy. It can be used to protect assets from creditors, for gift planning, and to manage estate taxes. Asset protection also safeguards assets in the event of a divorce. Overall, selecting an experienced estate planning company can help control your estate’s legal fees to prevent families from litigating and arguing over your estate after your passing. Asset protection planning will help your family to save time and money.
C – Choices
Estate planning involves making choices about the people whom you trust enough to manage your estate after your demise and who will the inheritors of your assets be. You will need to choose an executor, trustee, and successor trustees while also selecting beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries. These will be the people who will be inheriting your assets.
E – Execute and Fund
Once you have completed all the hard work of choosing the right people for the different components, you need to take the critical step of executing your documents and funding your assets. This involves guaranteeing that your estate planning documents are witnessed, signed, and notarized. These are the steps that are quired by various state laws. You also need to retitle your assets into their respective trust accounts.
These are the different components of developing a proper estate plan. It pays to get help from a professional estate planning company to review the plan to ensure it matches your financial goals and that it is valid from a legal perspective.
