time out to think about your wishes for after your death
and meet with an attorney to put your plan in place may
not be at the top of your list of things to do. However,
another way to look at it is that either you can handle the
task of organizing your estate now or force your family to
struggle through the administration of your estate while
grieving after your death.
Spend more time planning for your estate than your next
vacation
created properly, an estate plan can provide you control
over the assets you’ve worked so hard to acquire even
after you are gone. You will want to think about who will
properly manage money and other assets in ways consistent with your directions.
WHERE TO START ?
Make sure your plan accounts for both management
and distribution of assets when you die but also if you
become incapacitated. Without the proper documents
in place and people named, the court will need to step in
and name a guardian who can then make financial and
medical decisions for you. Once you’ve thought through
these initial questions, you will be ready to start putting
your estate plan in order.
Whether rich or poor, everyone has an estate, which
comprises your assets and liabilities (everything you own
and owe). You probably have both “real property” and
“personal property.” Real property basically refers to real
estate: primary residence(s), vacation property, rental
property or any land. Personal property is loosely defined as any property that is not real estate: vehicles, investments, financial accounts, furniture, jewelry, etc. An
American family with an average income of $100,000/
year may have accumulated assets such as cars, a
house, retirement accounts, life insurance and education
funds by the time they reach 35-40.
And those closer to retirement may have even more reason to ensure their estate plan is in place, as they have
accumulated wealth and vacation homes or have a larger family to consider.
When you are ready to begin thinking about your estate
plan, you first need to consider these five questions:
• Whom do you want to receive assets? You can leave
your assets to anyone: family, friends and organizations.
When determining who should receive your assets, think
about how much and when. A benefit of estate planning
is that you can be specific about how your assets are
distributed, even when you are no longer here.
• Who should administer your estate (such as managing
and distributing assets)?
This person will need to sell your assets, if necessary,
and/or distribute them per your written instruction.
• What is your plan in the event of incapacity? Planning
for incapacity is probably one of the most important aspects of estate planning — and is often overlooked.
BASIC ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Every estate plan should have key doc V