Why Do Estate Planning?

1. Your Wishes

Leave your assets to the people you want them to go to. Given the complexity of blended families, couples with no children, and geographically dispersed families, estate planning now is more complex than in the past, when assets were simply passed down to children or next-of-kin.  Make sure you leave your assets to those people who you want to receive them.

2. Incapacity Planning 

None of us are prepared to lose our capacity, through memory loss or physical incapacity. But if you do, and you have no estate planning documents, the only option for your family or loved ones is to get a Court-controlled Conservatorship for you. This is time-consuming and expensive, and if possible, people want to avoid it. Having a Trust with Trustees to serve after you will provide a mechanism to avoid conservatorship, and have a trusted person pay bills, make financial decisions, do investments, and manage your financial assets. It is considerably easier than a Conservatorship, and much less expensive.

3. Tax Savings 

A Trust can divide a married person’s estate into two shares, one portion for each spouse at death. So, while there could have been an estate tax on the entire value of the estate, dividing it in shares may dramatically reduce or eliminate estate taxes.

4. Who Gets What

The estate plan clarifies who gets what, including the cars, family silver, china, jewelry, heirlooms, family photos, and the rest of the stuff we collect over our lifetimes. This is often overlooked, but depending on the family, it might end up being a critical part of estate planning.

5. Family Harmony

A good estate plan contributes to family harmony. Your estate plan should be the road map that you design, not what children or families interpret as they wish.