3 Estate Planning Mistakes To Avoid
Planning your estate is an essential part of emergency preparedness. Of course you hope for the best and hope that you don't have to use the estate plan while you are young, but sadly there are too many times that people are injured, hurt, or die young and they do not have a will or trust to help care for their family. Here are a couple estate-planning mistakes to avoid.
1. Putting Everything In A Will
A will used to be the best way to plan and prepare your estate. Now however, there are things called trusts, which are far more effective at caring for your estate. This is for a couple reasons. First the will has to go through a process called probate so it takes longer to execute. The courts have to oversee the probate process so it can take a good deal of time for them to get to it, which means your family is left without what they need. Second, a will has to be put on public record. So if you don't want everyone seeing your estate and the details of your life, then put everything in a trust. This will pass directly to your heirs and stay off public record.
2. Failing To Get Life Insurance
Whenever you meet with an estate-planning attorney they will ask if you have life insurance. Life insurance is a very important part of caring for you family. You might not have the savings and retirement to keep your family afloat after your death. A life insurance policy will help to pay for funeral expenses, medical expenses, living expenses and anything else that your family might need. Life insurance policies are very affordable so there is no reason to delay.
3. Waiting Till You Are In Your Golden Years
Another mistake people make is waiting too long to get the estate plan. Just because you don't plan on dying young doesn't mean that you are immune from passing away. You should plan for the worst, even if you are young and healthy.
Second, estate plans are not just for when you pass away. They also give you power of attorney that help to protect you in the case that you are unable to speak for yourself. You should have an estate plan to ensure that you are protected in any situation.
These are just some of the estate planning mistakes to avoid. You can contact a local attorney, like Vandeventer Black LLP, if you have questions when planning your estate.