Some Things You Need To Know About Estate Plans

12 January 2018
 Categories: Law, Blog

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Putting together a will is incredibly important. Many people fail to put together their estate plan because they believe that they don't need one, that it will be too expensive or a myriad of other reasons. Then something tragic might happen and their family is in a terrible situation because of lack of planning. Don't let this happen to you! Make sure you are prepared for your family's sake. Here are some things you should know about putting together an estate plan.

Who Needs An Estate Plan?

Really every adult should have an estate plan. Does this mean that an 18-year-old in college should have a plan? Not necessarily. Instead, you can usually wait until you have some sort of property or assets. If you are married you should have an estate plan, and if you wait until you have children and still don't have an estate plan you have waited too long. Ideally, you should get an estate plan done as soon as you acquire property or get married, and then revise it as needed when you have life changes such as a divorce, marriage, birth of a child, death of a family member and so forth.

How Do You Make An Estate Plan?

You can make an estate plan online and just do it yourself. However, you should know that these are not as safe and may not hold up in court. Instead, the ideal thing to do is to meet with an estate planning attorney. Many of them have packages and deals where you can get your whole plan set up for a set price. When you consider how much money you will lose if you don't have a plan and how much you will pay in taxes or lawsuits if your assets are protected it seems that a small fee to a lawyer is the more reasonable and practical way to do it.

What Does An Estate Plan Include?

When most people think of an estate plan they think about a will. Although the will plays an important role in the estate plan you actually will do a lot more. The will should only state what you want to be done with your children and any directions you might have. Then the trust will house all of your money and assets. This allows better protection for your wealth, and it will bypass probate, which is a long and expensive process. Then you will get your powers of attorney. These documents tell you who will make decisions for you if you aren't able to. 

To learn more, contact a law firm like Wright Law Offices, PLLC