Estate planning is
not just about money
Estate planning is the responsible way of planning for and protecting you and your family, both during life and after death. While nobody wants to think about death, incapacity, or disability, establishing an estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Proper estate planning not only puts you in charge of your finances, but it can also help your loved ones minimize the expense, delay, and frustration associated with managing your affairs when you pass away, become incapacitated, or disabled.
Additionally, proper estate planning eliminates the need for a court to get involved upon your incapacity or death. There are many benefits to proper estate planning, some of which are highlighted below.
Providing for Incapacity
One of the most important and compelling reasons for proper estate planning is to plan for incapacity. If you become incapacitated (due to dementia, a stroke, Alzheimer's, or any other debilitating illness), you are legally prohibited from managing your own financial affairs.
Many are under the mistaken impression that a spouse or adult children can automatically take over for them in case they become incapacitated. The truth is that for another person to be able to manage your finances, they must petition a court to be appointed Conservator and declare you legally incompetent.
If you want your family to be able to immediately take over for you, you must designate a person or persons that you trust so that they will have the authority to withdraw money from your accounts, pay bills, take distributions from your IRAs, sell stocks, refinance your home, etc. This can be accomplished through proper planning.
In addition to planning for your financial well-being should you become incapacitated, you should establish a plan for your medical care. You can designate someone you trust - for example, a family member or close friend to make decisions on your behalf about medical treatment options if you lose the ability to decide for yourself.
Avoiding Probate
If you leave your estate to your loved ones using a will, everything you own will pass through probate. The process is expensive, time-consuming, and open to the public. The probate court is responsible for overseeing the process until the estate has been settled and distributed. With proper planning, your assets can pass on to your loved ones without undergoing probate, in a manner that is quick, inexpensive, and private.
A Living Trust is a simple, relatively inexpensive legal alternative that eliminates the costs and delays of probate and ensures that your loved ones will receive their inheritance promptly and exactly as you intended.