3 Estate Planning Tips To Protect Your Family
While it may be uncomfortable to think about what happens to your family after your death, this is an important aspect of life anyone with a family needs to attend to. Carefully planning for the financial and practical implications of your death will ensure that if anything happens to you, your family will be protected and not have to face unnecessary financial hardship. Here are a few important estate planning tips and best practices:
Decide Your Estate Preferences
Really sitting down and thinking about your estate preferences is the key first step. If you have small children, who would you like to raise them if something happens to both you and your spouse? You will need to discuss this in detail with anyone you decide to name as guardians, including how you will ensure your children are financially provided for. If you are in a serious relationship but not married, would you prefer for your assets to go to your parents, siblings, or your significant other? These types of decisions need to be thought out carefully.
Meet with an Estate Planning Attorney
Instead of putting together a generic will on your own, it's wise to meet with an estate planning services attorney. They will help you come up with an overall estate plan that includes a will, a trust if you choose, a custody plan for any children you have, and more. An experienced estate planning attorney can take a look at your unique financial and family situation, discuss your preferences and priorities with you, and make sure any contingencies are accounted for.
Consider Putting a Trust in Place
In less complex situations, a will may be sufficient, but in many cases, leaving both a will and a trust is the best approach. You can place all of your assets, including your home, vehicles, savings accounts, and investments into a trust in your own name while you are alive. You can also assign a trustee to handle the estate for you if you die or become incapacitated, by a coma, for example.
This means your assets will be managed and distributed according to the preferences in your will, without the intermediate step of being placed in probate by a judge. This is very important because probate can last for months or even several years, during which time your beneficiaries won't have access to your state. A trust is usually the best way to prevent this problematic situation.
Being proactive and working with an estate planning attorney to protect your family financially and legally will give you immense peace of mind, so that you can go back to enjoying life.