Estate planning is a process of making many important decisions and plans over your future and that of your loved ones. specifically, estate plans, concerns what happen to your assets both while you are alive and well or dead, how you want to share your assets to family, children or spouse, who takes over making certain important decisions for you in cases of mental incapability and lastly transfer of ownership of a property. These plans can only be presented, documented and implemented in wills and testament, living trust, revocable or irrevocable trust, advance medical directives and lastly financial power of attorney (power of attorney).
Estate planning steps you should consider
Plan you estate with estate professionals
You will need guidance and assistance from experienced estate planning and elder law lawyers. You don’t have to do all of this alone. With help, you can plan your estate smartly. Planning now for the future with an estate lawyer would never be regretted. Preparing now for the future over your financial and medical affairs would save you and your loved ones a whole deal of stress and troubles. One wrong document or inclusion or signatory could mean or signal a whole different thing and may jeopardize your well-being or your estates at risk of loss and probate with the beneficiary or trustee not getting it.
It is also important to note that state laws rules over estate plan. They dictates what should be included in will, trust or power of an attorney, these state laws, also regulates how the documents are filed and its implementation. This emphases the underlying importance an estate planning attorney. Contact an estate planning attorney near you.
Prepare all the essential estate documents
One smart way to plan your estate is to have documents such as living trust, last will and testaments, advance medical directives and power of attorney.
- Last Will and testament: a will based estate plan holds a detailed list of instructions as to how your property should be shared after you die. If you have minor children, it contains provision for appointing a guardian for your children.
- Trust: Trust are essential when planning your estate. Through trust, you can have anyone whom you solely desire manage and make financial decisions over your assets both while you are alive or dead as well as when you become mentally incapacitated. Trust forms the bases of how your estates are shared or given to beneficiaries, what happens to you when you die and who makes certain financial or medical decisions for you when you are mentally incapable.
- Advance medical directive: Through an advance medical directive also known as a medical power of attorney, you get to designate a health agent to make medical decisions when you are unable to do so. This same document could be filed in court to should it be someone needs to be your guardian or conservator.
- Financial power of attorney: through this, you can protect your finances and assets through the financial power of attorney. This document allows you delegate to the person your choice the ability to manage your assets and make important decisions should you become mentally incapable. This document can be used in two form as a durable power of attorney and a springing power of attorney.
Avoiding probate
Having your assets go through probate is a long, painful process and is an overall hassle. It could tie up your estate and costs thousands of dollars in legal fees and other expenses. Thus, it is best to try and avoid probate. Probate is a process of estate settlement in court. It is a process in which a will is proved in a law court to see if they are valid and true enough to be approved and implemented.
Probate follows a legal process where your estate plans or last Will is verified in a probate court, before distribution of your assets and properties according to the will. Depending on some factors — such as the state laws binding your locality.
The question is how can you avoid this long probate processes?
An estate plan document such as the revocable living trusts can help you and the desired beneficiary of your property stay clear of probate. Asides preparing your Will, one smart way to plan your estate is to move your assets into trust. When the trust is funded, the assets would be transferred, to your desired beneficiary without probate.
Contact an estate planning attorney near you
Having an estate planning attorney in the same county as you gives you guarantee that such lawyer is up to date with the laws that concerns you and your estate. He will, to the best of his ability, use every available legal tool in helping you actualize your estate goals.