What is Estate Planning?
Estate Planning is very common but sadly, no everyone is aware of the relevance of estate planning. Estate planning is very important, in fact, it can be seen as a plan done to secure your future and that of your loved ones. If you care about your spouse, children, and relatives, you will plan your estate irrespective of its value.
Estate planning isn’t just for the rich, it is also for the poor. It is the only way to dictate how your estate will be managed after your demise. Estate plans are usually made when one is alive and it will come into effect when one dies or becomes incapacitated. It is advised that you plan your estate early then update it when necessary to avoid dying without one.
There are several people out there who don’t really know what estate planning is, neither do they know of its importance or how it works. Well, If you are among those people, you are about to find out.
Estate planning is simply all about the distribution and management of a deceased assets upon his death or incapacitation. You may think that estate planning is all about drafting will, but it’s actually more than that.
What Happens When you Fail to Plan Your Estate?
Failure to plan your estate could hurt your family in several ways. If you fail to plan your estate while alive and you die eventually, your assets or properties will be shared and managed based on the intestate law of New York. This process is often not a straightforward one. It is costly and time-consuming. If you don’t want to put your family through lots of stress after your demise, make necessary plans to plan your estate while alive.
Will
A will is one of the most significant elements of estate planning. Without a will, an estate plan isn’t complete. This legal document is that which states the assets of the deceased, how each will be shared, including whom it will shared to.
Put simply, a will contains your wish on how your estate is to be shared. Some people believe that estate planning begins and ends with the drafting of wills, this is so not true. In fact, estate planning is more than writing wills.
In the will is the name of an executor. The executor could be anyone from a trusted friend to a relative, etc. The job of an estate executor is to ensure that the wish of the deceased concerning his assets are fulfilled. It is therefore safe to say that an estate executor acts on behalf of the estate owner.
After your demise, your assets won’t be distributed to the designated beneficiaries, not after your will has gone through the probate process.
Probate Explained
The probate process is often feared due to its complex and expensive nature. During the probate process, you will have to hire a probate attorney, pay for court fees, and settle huge estate taxes. You can plan an estate that avoid this complicated process by creating a trust.
A trust is simply a legal media created by an estate owner and used to transfer assets to a trustee who then keeps them in a trust fund for a third party who is regarded as a beneficiary.
The estate executor will be the one in charge of the probate process. He or she can also decide to seek for the assistance of a probate attorney.
After the demise of an estate owner, the designated estate executor will have to file the necessary paperwork to the local probate court to kick-start the probate process which can last for either a year or a few months.
Probate is usually done to determine the validity of a will and it is the job of the estate executor to prove that the will of the deceased is valid.
Probate Attorney New York.
Due to the complex nature of the probate process, an estate executor will require the services of a probate attorney. If you were selected as the executor of an estate and you need a probate attorney, you can contact us. We have the best probate attorneys who will be willing to guide you through the probate process.