People often channel more energy towards planning a vacation, parties, summer travels and even shopping than they do when it comes to who inherits their assets. It is true that estate planning is less fun than planning a visit to a great tourist attraction or sky diving. Architecting a perfect estate plan to deal with your properties and cater for your loved ones after death is one of the best thing anyone can do. Despite the fancy title that captions the subject, estate planning isn’t restricted to the rich and wealthy. Estate planning transcends a concept limited to a type of economic class. When it comes to deciding who takes ownership of everything you have worked for, you need to be armed with the right sets of claws. Not having a detailed estate plan can jeopardise the status of your family and benefactors, it doesn’t matter if you have a pent house, a million-dollar factory or all you own is an old farm house.
if you haven’t gained conviction in why you need an estate plan, one estate planning question you can ask yourself is what will be the state of things after you’ve passed and your family and benefactors begin to strive for who gets what in a situation that could have been avoided. While estate planning is important, it is even more important to start early.
Why you should start your estate plan early
One estate law question people ask is when to start their estate planning. Estate planning lawyers have advised that initiating your estate plan is not limited to a particular time, age or status. The concept of estate planning owes nothing on your status, it has everything to do about your loved ones. Estate lawyers and attorneys have prescribed starting as early as your twenties even when you are young and broke. These days, life has become fast paced and busy schedules make it easy for us to forget about estate planning. This has made it really important to plan ahead without undue procrastinations. No one has a control over life, add this to the inevitability of death, it is important to take the first step in putting together your end of life paper work. Early estate planning is advantageous because the overall concept covers for what happens at death or incapacitation. People often ignore the fact that the eventuality of one being incapacitated is enough reason to kick start their estate planning. Estate planning covers for when you are alive but unable to make telling decisions about your own properties.
The importance of estate planning
Life is filled with huge and sacred concepts like estate planning whose phrase could be a little misleading, but that doesn’t mean you should play victim and get caught. Estate planning doesn’t do justice to what the whole process entails, it goes beyond preparing for the management and transfer of your asset at death or incapacitation. For instance, children are not assets but one of the estate planning questions to ask yourself is after you’ve catered for your properties, who will look after the miniature you? Here are several reasons why estate planning is important
Prevent your hard toiled wealth from being diverted to unintended beneficiaries
Why estate planning is important dwells on one fact, you suffered for most of the properties in your name and you don’t want them to be subjected to an unfair distribution. Gone are the days where estate planning was ascribed to individuals with a bogus net worths, mid-class and average individuals are getting more involved in the process just in case life happens. You don’t need to be filthy rich or have a company listed on the stock exchange before you can acquire assets worthy of being passed on to your heirs. Even if all you have is a 50 square feet piece of land, if you don’t decide who takes it over after you’ve passed, you cede control to happenstance. The crux of estate planning is to determine the heirs to your property and assets no matter how little. Without a comprehensive estate plan, the court takes over the control seat of who gets what in a process that is usually gruelling and arduous. Think about it, who’s in a better position to determine who inherits your asset, you or a system who wouldn’t automatically rule that your dearest ones get the best.
Protection for families with young children
Death is barely on anyones wish list but if you are a parent with little wards, it’s better to safeguard the future of your kids with an estate plan. Investing in the future of your kids with the aid of an estate plan inadvertently calls for a will. Your will spells out how your any of your children under the age of 18 are to be cared for and what assets in your estate are to be inherited by them. An estate plan also serves as a platform to decide who becomes the caregiver or guardian of your child when you pass.
Protection for your beneficiaries
Estate planning to a large extent means protecting your loved ones not just children. A solid estate plan secures your beneficiaries from undue exploitation’s including high taxes. Vital to estate planning is transferring properties to a beneficiary with the consciousness of creating the smallest tax burden. A little bit of estate planning by spouses can reduce federal, state estate taxes as well as state inheritance taxes. It also reduces the income taxes your loved ones have to pay. The protective capabilities of estate planning also ensures that your beneficiaries don’t make bad decisions due to creditor issues, external influences or a divorce. Clauses can be included in your estate plan to prevent your beneficiaries from people who want to take advantage of them.
Kill every possibility of a family mess
Ask any estate planning lawyer near you, they will tell you one of the few times that people often wish their decedents can rise up is usually when issues arise as a result of the properties left behind. A sibling warring with another family member thinking they deserve more than the other is a common posthumous story. Estate planning is a way of avoiding family feuds by letting you select who takes charge after you pass. Or in case of incapacitations, you get to decide who gets what, when they will get it and how much. Estate planning ensures that things don’t get ugly and ultimately eliminates the possible intervention of a court.
East Bay Estate Planning Attorney
