It’s all about the protection of your loved ones.
A lot of people concentrate more on planning a camping trip, choosing a TV to purchase, or even deciding on a place to eat breakfast than they do in estate planning—making the decision of who inherits their assets after they die. It might not be as entertaining to think about as chartering a boat or checking out movie reviews, but with the lack of estate planning, you cannot choose who comes into possession of everything that you’ve worked so diligently for.
Estate planning is not just for the well-to-do. With the lack of a plan set up, clearing up your matters after you pass away could have an enduring—and high priced—consequence on your loved ones, even if you don’t have an expensive car, big IRA, or invaluable jewelry to pass on. Still not sure an estate plan is needed? Review these four reasons why you must have one in place and bypass potentially disastrous aftereffects for your heirs.
Principal Points
- When you want to choose who inherits what amid your belongings and valuables, you’ll need an estate plan
- An estate plan also provides you with the chance to select your children’s guardian in the unlikely event your early passing.
- Minimizing taxes on what you leave behind is a regular estate-planning intention.
- Estate planning reduces the chances of family squabbles and unpleasant legal battles.
1. Your Estate Plan Safeguards Beneficiaries
If estate planning once was considered something that only the affluent needed, that is no longer believed. Presently a good deal of middle class families will need to plan for when something happens to the family’s money maker (or money makers). At the end of the day, you don’t have to be extremely rich to do well in investing or real estate, both of which generates assets that you’ll want to impart to your heirs.
Even if you’re just leaving behind a summer boathouse, if you don’t make a decision about who will receive the property when you die you will not have any influence over what could happen to it.
That’s because the foremost part of estate planning is identifying heirs for your assets, whether it’s a boathouse or a vast coin collection. With a lack of an estate plan, the courts frequently will decide who comes into possession of your assets, a course of action that could take years, accrue costs, and get messy. Essentially, the court will not know which sibling was responsible and which sibling doesn’t need to have free access to money. Neither will the courts undoubtedly rule that the surviving a spouse receives everything.
If you die with the lack of a will, in which is a important factor of an estate plan, a court will determines who comes into possession of your assets.
2. Estate Plans Protects Minor Children
Nobody contemplates passing away young, yet if you’re the parent of young children, you should be prepared for the inconceivable. At this stage is where the will factor of your estate plan comes in.
To make sure that your children are cared for in a fashion of which you accept, you will want to name their guardians should both parents die before the children are no longer minors. Lacking a will that designates these guardians, the courts get involved to decide who your children will be raised by.
3. An Estate Plan Forgoes Heirs a Big Tax Bite
Estate planning is about the protection of your loved ones, meaning to some extent providing them with protection from Uncle Sam. Imperative to estate planning is transference of assets to heirs with a focus towards creating the least possible tax obligation for them.
Even a little estate planning permits couples to minimize some or maybe all of their federal and state estate taxes and their state inheritance taxes. Furthermore, there are methods to minimize the income tax beneficiaries might owe. Lacking a plan, the amount that your heirs will have to pay the IRS could be considerable.
4. An Estate Plan Stops Family Messes
Everyone’s heard the stories. An individual is pretty well of and passes away and the strife amongst their family members is triggered. One sibling possibly thinks they deserve more than the other, or a sibling possibly thinks they should manage the finances even though they’re infamous for being horrible with money. Such rowing can turn nasty and may end up in court, with family members conflicting with one another.
Preventing fights before they begin is one other justification of why an estate plan is vital. This will permits you to decide who manages your finances and assets should you become mentally debilitated or after your death and will go a long way towards suppressing any family friction and making sure that your assets get handled the way you planned.
In addition, it assists you in making personalized plans, if required—for the arrangement for a child with health concerns or to establish a trust for one who may be more comfortable not getting a lump sum. It can also permits you to give more to the one who did a lot of the work in caring for you as you aged or less to the one whose comprehensive education you paid for at the same time paying way less for their brothers and/or sisters.
Deciding if you should divide your estate right down the middle is one of the primary tasks you’ll need to consider. And, certainly, when you’ve been married before—or have children from a different family—an estate plan is critical.
In Summary
If you want the protection of your assets and your loved ones when you can’t do it any longer, you’re going to need an estate plan. Lacking one your heirs possibly may face vast tax burdens and the courts could establish how your assets are split—and even who will raise the children.
Source:
-
Fuscaldo, D. (2020, August 28). 4 Reasons Estate Planning Is So Important. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/wealth-management/122915/4-reasons-estate-planning-so-important.asp
Need an Affordable Estate Planning Attorney in Scottsdale?
Moshier Law should be your choice when you need the best estate planning attorney. An experienced family law attorney will work with you to obtain the best possible outcome in your situation. We advocate for our clients so they have the brightest future possible. Give us a call today at 480-999-0800 for a free consultation.
Divorce and Family Law
When a case demands litigation, you’ll have the benefit of 19 years of litigation experience in California and Arizona. But when a case demands collaborative law or mediation, you’ll know every option.
