ESTATE PLANNING
Establish Your Legacy Today
Do you have a Last Will and Testament ?
Do you have a Living Trust?
Do you even need a Living Trust?
Do you have powers of attorney?
Durable Financial and also the health care, which is better known as a DHC, durable health-care power of attorney, in case you should become incompetent?
If you have all of the above, are the documents up-to-date? By having a simple review, and making sure that everything is in order, you can save yourself and your loved ones a lot of heart ache.
Objectives of Estate Planning
Estate planning provides individuals with an effective way to control their assets, both during and after death. There are three broad objectives to estate planning. First, to provide for the care of family members, including the continuation of the lifestyle to which they are accustomed. Another is to ensure that the people and organizations you intend to transfer your assets to upon your death actually receive those assets. The final objective of estate planning is to minimize the amount of taxes, fees, and court involvement associated with setting an estate, by avoiding probate.
Estate Planning Documents
Several documents are typically used in the estate process. The combination of which particular documents will depend on your client’s specific needs. Estate planning documents include:
– Wills
– Trusts
– Power of Attorney
– Guardianship
– Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (also called a Health Care Proxy and an Advance Health Care Directive)
– Living Will or Directive to Physicians
– Durable Power of Attorney for Property
The Benefits of Estate Planning
Developing a well-crafted estate plan is an important financial step that carries with it several benefits.
First, it offers an individual a road map for managing their finances and alleviating the stress of worrying about what will happen after their death. Specifically, estate planning can:
– Provide for family members. Whether leaving behind a surviving spouse of minor children, estate planning can address specific concerns such as ensuring loved ones have future financial security, which can be accomplished using a variety of financial tools such as life insurance and trusts. Alternatively, in the case of young children, estate planning can ensure that upbringing and educational costs are handled by appointing a guardian.
– Distribute property to beneficiaries quickly. Probate in some locations is a lengthy, drawn out process. However, proper estate planning can ensure that probate is either simplified or expedited, or if structured correctly, avoided all together.
– Minimize expenses. Estate planning can be instrumental in keeping the expenses associated with transferring property to beneficiaries as low as possible.
– Reduce estate taxes. A well-crafted estate plan can make certain that the beneficiaries receive the maximum allowed under low.
– Lessen the uncertainty. Not knowing what will happen after one’s death can be disconcerting. By having and estate plan in place, you can ensure that many of those questions related to retirement, end-of-life care, and funeral arrangements are answered.





