Estate Planning Lawyer
Planning for your future can be exciting, especially if it’s something you are looking forward to. However, some tasks that come along with being an adult are not always so uplifting. Crafting an estate plan is something that everyone should do as soon as they own property or any other kind of asset. Once you have children, the stakes of dying without a plan in place are higher and may place an undue burden on your family. Review four reasons why you need to create a plan for what happens after you die.
- You Get To Make the Choices
One of the most important reasons you should have an estate plan is it allows you to choose who gets what in many cases. If you are married, much of your estate will pass to your spouse. It is also likely that you will have a joint will. However, even in this case, you can document personal items you wish given to specific people. For example, an heirloom from your mother may be better suited in the care of a sibling.
- You Can Decide End of Life Decisions
An estate plan is not only about what happens after your death. Some of the most important elements it should include are about what happens to you before you pass. End-of-life plans are essential to memorialize in legal documents. Doing this cuts through the confusion and helps defuse tense situations at an emotionally trying time, as a trusted Memphis, TN estate planning lawyer like one from Patterson Bray can explain. Documents that will help include things such as a living will or advanced medical directive and financial power of attorney. Both appoint the person whom you entrust to make end-of-life medical decisions. The financial power of attorney grants someone access to your finances if you become incapacitated. If you are married, a power of attorney usually passes to your spouse, but you can designate someone else.
- You Can Help Offset Uncle Sam
Taxes may do a great deal of harm to your heirs should you die either without a will or if you don’t handle your property correctly. An estate planning lawyer or financial advisor can help explain how helpful establishing trusts can be both while you’re alive and after you die. Any property moved out of your name and into a trust is no longer a tax liability. When you die, the trust is assumed by the beneficiary, who receives the property outside of probate.
Estate planning is crucial to ensuring your family is cared for when the unthinkable happens. An estate planning lawyer in your area can better provide guidance on traversing these decisions.
