IF YOU HAVE ASSETS, YOU NEED AN ESTATE PLAN:

You decide who should receive your assets and when you want them to get it. Your attorney then puts your instructions into a legal document called a will or trust. Also, while you can legally write your own, you’re much better off having an experienced attorney do it for you.

During your lifetime, you collect a lot of assets, some of them valuable and some of them not, but they all mean something to you. Normally, you want your assets to go to people you care about the most: your family, close friends, and sometimes a charitable cause.

A well-structured estate plan is essential if you have a minor child, own real estate, own a business, live in a high tax state or have any significant net worth. A few of the benefits of proper estate planning include:

  • Minimizing estate taxes;
  • Avoiding probate (a public and expensive procedure);
  • Passing of assets to intended beneficiaries;
  • Naming guardians for minor children;
  • Financial planning;
  • Business succession planning;
  • Ensuring health care decisions are made according to your wishes;
  • Disability planning;
  • Charitable giving.

At the very least, all individuals should have an estate plan consisting of a will, a power of attorney for financial matters and an advanced health care directive. Most estate plans also include a living trust. More complex estate plans often include additional trusts, limited liability companies, family limited partnerships and corporations.

Bottom line: If you’re responsible enough to have your own assets, you need to be responsible for making sure what will happen to them after you’re gone.