Thinking About An Estate Plan? Considerations To Explore
When it comes to making an estate plan, it's a good idea to do some thinking about what you want before you talk to a lawyer. Once you have consulted with an estate planning lawyer, you are closer to having a complete and comprehensive estate plan.
What To Keep in Mind About Estate Plans in General
There is no single blueprint that spells out your estate plan. The best plans are created based on your wants and needs along with good legal and financial advice about taxes, probate, insurance, and more. Step one might be to think about things not in terms of what you have to leave behind but who you care enough about to include in the plans. Start with people first, and the rest will fall into place.
A Comprehensive Estate Plan
A good estate plan contains a last will and testament, life insurance, and a burial plan but a great one addresses so much more. Estate plans should encompass issues that may pop up before death as well as dealing with issues after death. For example, long-term care insurance may be less expensive if purchased well ahead of the need and should not be left out of a plan. The cost for almost any level of care whether it be assisted living or full residential nursing care can be an enormous burden.
Don't forget to include one or more power of attorney (POA) designations in your plan. You can cover everything from incapacity to being out of the country and business issues with a POA. Finally, you can relieve your loved ones of a great burden with the creation of a living will. This document provides guidance for medical professionals when dealing with end-of-life decisions.
Consider a Revocable Trust
Ask your estate lawyer about a revocable trust. A trust does everything a will can do and more. You place assets into a trust the same way you would list them in a will, but nothing listed in the trust has to go through probate. Additionally, it's easier to place conditions in a trust. For example, you can set up a trust to provide money to a grandchild by the semester when attending a certain university.
Property Titles
Speaking of avoiding probate, you can skip probate when it comes to dealing with your family home by using a deed. Ask about a right of survivorship deed that protects the owner of the home and then passes the home seamlessly to others named on the deed.
Don't waste another moment. Once you know how you want to proceed, speak with your estate lawyer right away.
