No one wants to think about what is going to happen after they pass away while they are still living, however, there really is not any better time like the present. Most the important decision you need to make are designed to make things easier for your loved ones after you have passed away and you cannot make the necessary decisions. It is really imported to discuss estate planning.
The key to estate planning is that it has to be done while you still have the control of your faculties for an attorney to be able to prepare all of the proper paperwork. Your attorney should be able to go over everything that you need to be sure that you have gotten everything important.
10 Important reasons for doing estate planning
Peace of Mind – The biggest reason is to give everyone the peace of mind knowing things are all taken care of ahead of time.
Specify who is to receive which assets after your death – In order to prevent any fighting or hurt feelings it is very important that you assign assets to everyone that will be mentioned in the will. Once the document is enforced it can only be undone by the owner of the will.
Helps to avoid probate headaches – If there was no will or trust everything would go in the court system and that is what is referred to as probate court.
State who is to be the guardian of any minor children – When you have minor children you have to consider who you will want to take care of them in the event that you were to die.
Name the executor – The executor is the most important decision besides who will be taking care of the kids. The executor will be responsible for making sure that all of the parts of the trust is carried out.
Establish a Power of Attorney for financial decisions – The power of attorney for making financial decisions needs to be settled in order to be able to pay any bills for care if you become incapacitated.
Establish a Power of attorney for healthcare – Like power of attorney for financial reasons, you also need to do something about your medical conditions before you become incapacitated.
Execute a revocable trust – Avoid any problems with a will but setting up a revocable trust is far better received in my opinion.
Restrict minor children’s access to inheritance – To help protect your kids and keep them from spending any of the money they have been for their inheritance. The usual time frame is 25-30 years old.
Be sure to shield the inheritance from tax concerns, divorce issues and creditors – Having a trust in place will help to protect the assets from taxes, divorce a decree.
Learn more about attorney Sean J. Nichols and the legal services he provides for clients including: estate planning, elder law issues, Medicaid planning, elder care, probate law, guardianships, and power of attorney (POA) at www.seanjnichols.com. To contact the offices of Sean J Nichols, call 734.386.0224 today.