Estate planning is the act of securing your assets before you die. Obviously you cannot take anything along with you after your death but what you can do is make sure your property falls into the right and true deserving hands instead of falling under the court.
You don’t have to be very rich for estate planning/ Probate law, don’t think that you will need a lot of assets and a lot of property for that. Believe it or not everyone has assets thought it is a car, a house, electronic devices, clothes that you wear and even a person himself is an asset. Without a plan in place, there could be a lifelong impact on your adored ones, even if you don’t have an expensive home, large investment account or valuable art to pass on. So what is needed is a proper estate planning and probate law.
The drive of estate planning is to formulate the transfer of your assets to your loved and dear ones upon your death. Estate planning allows you to specify where and in which hands each of your assets will go after you are dead. This involves determining who the receivers will be, what each will get, and how to complete those transfers with the minimum tax penalties, while making sure that the estate has enough liquidity to meet its commitments.
For estate planning and probate law you will have to have an estate planning attorney who has knowledge and experience to council you and your family on asset preservation plans which are appropriate for your circumstances and who can also guide you about trusts, will, powers of attorneys, and living wills.
An estate plan includes more than wills and trusts, it also relies on careful and professional advice that is personalized to your condition. While wills and trusts are invaluable, a inclusive estate plan should also incorporate a power of attorney and advance directive. These documents provide necessary protection in the event of an unexpected accident or illness.
A probate law is a process that is supervised by the court for the purpose of admitting the client’s will, appointing an executer and supervising the estate. The assets of the decedent’s are collected, creditors if any are paid and then the remaining assets are distributed among the descendants according to the terms of the will of the deceased. In other words Probate is basically a process whereby a court reviews a will to make sure that it is genuine, and allows others to make legal challenges to the will.
Consider these four reasons why you should have an estate plan, in order to avoid possible shattering consequences.
- For preventing your assets from ending up in the hands of the court or unintended beneficiaries
- For protecting families with young children
- For stopping heirs from overpaying in taxes
- For eliminating family messes when you are gone and will never be with them again to sort things out for them
The Law Office of Sean J. Nichols is dedicated to assisting clients throughout legal issues that come with aging including: elder law, estate planning, probate law and more. Check out the Law Office of Sean J. Nichols at http://www.seanjnichols.com to contact an estate attorney today.