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How Does Estate Planning Work and Why is it Important?

 

Are you hoping to have control over how your assets get distributed after your death? If so, then you should consider hiring an attorney, such as the ones from milehighestateplanning.com, to guide you when drafting an estate plan.

 

The process of estate planning entails stating how your assets will be distributed among your loved ones after you die. It also indicates how matters will be handled should the time come when you become incapacitated and no longer in a position to make crucial decisions.

 

If you’re uncertain about whether estate planning is vital, this article will talk about the reasons why estate planning is essential.

 

Decide Who Gets to Inherit Your Assets 

 

If you own several assets, including stock portfolios, a family home, real estate investments, or any other valuable possession, it’s crucial to have an estate plan. Therefore, you don’t necessarily have to be wealthy to have an estate plan, a notion which most individuals have.

 

In the estate plan, you should clearly state how assets will be distributed among your heirs, and whereas this might look needless, doing so will help avoid possible conflict.

 

Hence, thanks to the estate plan, you’ll be able to prevent endless court battles between your heirs. The constant battles on how assets should be distributed usually leaves the court to intervene and decide how assets will be allocated, leading to an unending feud among family members.

 

Enjoy Peace of Mind

 

If you didn’t have an estate plan, death will rob you the opportunity to state how your property should be distributed among your heirs. Therefore, you should strive to have an estate plan to ensure, even after your passing, everything still gets done according to your wishes.

 

If you do this, you get to enjoy peace of mind knowing that your loved ones will be catered for, giving you a great sense of achievement.

 

Safeguard Your Assets from Creditors

 

Some creditors are infamous for seizing your assets upon your death to settle an unpaid debt. As a result of this, your beneficiaries will not be left with anything that’ll help them sustain themselves now that you’re gone.

 

However, as it acts as an asset protection plan, this isn’t something you need to be concerned about if you have an estate plan. With an estate plan, you protect your family from a possible lawsuit, preventing the loss of property to creditors.

 

Protect Your Children’s Well-being

 

As a parent of young kids, the thought of dying young is, without a doubt, quite frightening. Therefore, you should have an estate plan to protect your kids in the event of this happening to make sure all their needs are met.

 

It would be best if you did this by setting up a will that elaborates on how your kids below 18 years old will be looked after and the items they should inherit when they become adults. Moreover, you can include a provision in the will stating who should be your kid’s guardian after your passing.

 

If you fail to have an estate plan in place, the court will decide who gets to raise your kids.

 

Saves Your Beneficiaries Huge Tax Cut

 

The primary purpose of setting up an estate plan is to safeguard your loved ones’ financial well-being even when you’re gone. This is especially crucial since state and federal estate taxes can get quite expensive.

 

One of the best ways of preventing a substantial tax cut on the inherited assets is by having an estate plan. In most cases, once the taxes are deducted, your heirs end up with a significantly smaller amount compared to what you had wished.

 

Through estate planning, you’ll be able to lower the possible tax burden of your heirs as much as possible. There are also some ways in which you can altogether avoid paying estate tax through revocable living trusts, ABC trusts, and AB trusts.

 

By reducing the tax burden, your beneficiaries will be left with a considerable inheritance to ensure their well-being is secure.

 

Prevent Family Messes

 

After the death of the breadwinner, families usually fight over how property should be shared among every member, which is something that happens a lot. The best way to avoid this happening to your family is by having an estate plan.

 

Here, you get to state your heirs, how much they should inherit, and when the assets will be inherited. You also get to choose who’ll be in charge of your property upon your death.

 

Therefore, in the unfortunate event, either you become incapacitated or pass away, you can be sure your property gets distributed according to your wishes. Likewise, you prevent any bad blood between your beneficiaries due to a legal battle on who and what each person should get.

 

Conclusion

 

It’s your responsibility to look after your loved ones even after you’re gone. Fortunately, estate planning allows you to do this. Therefore, you need to contact an expert attorney to take you through the process of writing an estate plan, and thereby safeguard the well-being of everyone you love.