Estate planning is not only for someone else or for some other time. Now is the time to put into place the safe-guards that will ensure that your family and finances that you’re working so hard for are protected. These are decisions that will be made, the question is whether they will be made by you or left to the whim of others and outside agencies. What makes the difference is planning now. Take some time to consider these things when creating an estate plan.
• Everybody needs a will. It informs the world exactly what you want done with your assets. If you have children, it’s also the mechanism for determining who will be their guardian in the event of your passing. This can also be the same person that you would like to appoint to manage any assets that you leave to your children, should they be too young to do so themselves.
• Trusts are basically how you put conditions on how and when your assets will be distributed. It also provides a financial benefit to your remaining family by reducing estate and gift taxes, as well as the delay and publicity of having to resort to a probate court. Another way to avoid the probate process with your funds is to name a specific beneficiary for things like bank accounts and retirement plans, making them automatically “payable on death” to whomever you chose.
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