Why You Need Estate Help
Have you reached the point in life at which you are starting to look ahead at how your loved ones will be provided for after you're gone? Planning for that time is the responsible thing to do, but almost all of us could use some estate help to guarantee families will have as easy a time as possible in the period immediately following our deaths. Paying for some estate help can be the best investment you ever make in your family's future. By having an estate plan and updating it periodically to reflect your changing financial status, you can be sure that estate taxes have a minimal impact on what you leave. And a carefully constructed estate plan can help your survivors more easily resolve any questions concerning your last wishes which might arise after your death.
Getting estate help will, first of all, ensure that you do not die intestate. In other words, your estate planner will almost certainly advise you to draft a will so that you will have the determining say in how your assets will be distributed. But even having a will has sits disadvantages, in that there will be fees associated with probating your will, and the probate process itself can be lengthy. And if your estate will be of significant value, you should seek the estate help which will preserve as much of it as possible. The attorney or advisor to whom you have turned for estate help can suggest ways to keep as many of your assets segregated from the probate process, so that they will be available to your heirs as quickly as possible. If you're in the US, you can do things like gifting during your lifetime the individuals with the money which you would have otherwise left them in you will: as an individual you can give up to $12,000 per year to as many donees as you wish without it having negative consequences in the form of Federal gift or estate taxes. You can give your heirs the funds to buy life insurance policies on your life which name them as the beneficiaries. You can also buy a life insurance policy to cover estate taxes. The policies would not be part of your estate and the benefits would be available to your heirs in a relatively short time. Or you can create place your assets in trust so that you can use them during your lifetime but exempt them out of probate when you die. Getting estate help will ensure that your estate plan changes to reflect the changes in your financial status as time passes. If you are like most of us, you don't keep the idea of planning for your death at the top of your "to-do" list, but the least you can do is find the estate help you need to draft your will. And if at all possible, do more. The last thing you want to leave your survivors is a prolonged period of having to deal with the probate process, attorneys, and estate taxes at the very time when they are feeling your loss most deeply. |
