Ok, I lied. Estate planning is not a one step process and can take a bit of your time. There are more things I consider in estate planning and these include:
Make moves to lower estate taxes.
They may call it death tax or whatever name they will coin next time. The truth of the matter is that if you own more than $2 million in assets, then you should consider moving your assets to lower tax vehicles.
It is obvious what this will mean to your family so I don’t need to explain it.
Create a document that explains everything.
Don’t laugh but this is extremely important. It should be the easiest thing to do since you don’t have to think too much law stuff to do it. Just write down what you were thinking when making your new will or you want your family to know how to locate your accounts, life insurance, legal documents, safe-deposit boxes, hidden stashes of cash, attorney, financial planner, and other trusted advisors.
Include the important information in a document that you give to someone you trust.
Discuss your plan with the people who matter.
Explain your wishes to important friends and family, especially if they might have a future role to play. And encourage them to get their own estate plan. If your relatives have their affairs in order, it could spare you a great deal of difficulty down the road and keep as much wealth as possible within the family.
In the end, anyone with a good estate plan is bound to have a merrier time since you are not stressed by anyone and you know exactly what you want. You will be surprised to find that when you start the estate planning process, you might come to learn more about your loved ones than you thought.
I am at that time of my life where I see less of my friends especially since they aren’t around anymore, if you know what I mean. I have found myself spending more time with my doctor for this or the other minor issues and its getting a bit disconcerting.
No wonder I have been dusting the covers off my estate planning books. Its time for some estate planning and these are some of the things I am doing.
Estate Planning Tips
I have Updated My Will
There is nothing worse in some states than seeing the gov’t decide on who will do what with your hard earned property. Even worse is the infighting that can occur when things are not clear. That is why a will is important and essential for all.
Get a living will.
Make known the kind of medical care you wish to receive, and at what point you no longer wish to receive any care.
Appoint a durable power of attorney. Designate a trusted person to handle your financial affairs if you ever become incapacitated.
Update your beneficiary forms
All those boring forms that you signed when you were younger can come back to haunt you late. Make sure that all your beneficiary information in insurance policies, investments and such documents are updated accordingly.
One more thing, keep a copy safely somewhere to avoid mischief.
Review the Legal Status of your Property
The legal status of your accounts, home, and other assets will also determine whether they bypass probate and a will. For example, an asset that is “joint tenancy with rights of survivorship” will become the sole property of the surviving co-owner(s) when another co-owner dies. That automatically disinherits other heirs from that asset, which may or may not be what the deceased intended.
In fact, if you have any equestrian apparel you have a right to take note of it.
I will be adding more stuff tomorrow on the things you need to do to make sure that your estate planning gets off on a sure footing.