Easy Steps To Make An Estate Plan

The key is to take the first step and meet with an experienced estate planning attorney. Our firm offers a free initial consultation in person or over the telephone for your convenience. From there, we can guide you through the process quickly and efficiently. For most people, estate planning has very little to do with wealth. Estate Planning has to do with having legal documents in place to take care of you and your family with as little hassle and expense as possible.

There are several elements to an estate plan that are key to your family being taken care of and your financial goals being met after you die.

Once you take an accurate inventory of assets such as investments, real estate, businesses, insurance policies, retirement accounts, you have a good idea where to start. Then you need to figure out whom you want to inherit your assets after you pass. It’s also a good idea to decide who you would want to handle your financial affairs if you were incapacitated, and who you would want making medical decisions for you.

After you know the answers to those questions, you can start on your estate plan. An estate plan typically has four elements:

• Will—When you die without a will, the state gets to decide what to do with your assets, not you or your family. Wills are especially important if you have young children, since it makes it possible to transfer guardianship to a trusted relative or godparent. A will is necessary even if you already have a trust, since a trust can only deal with certain assets.

• Trust—Trusts let you put conditions on how your assets, such as life insurance, property or other accounts, are distributed after you die. They also help minimize tax liability.

• Power of Attorney—This is a document that empowers a friend, relative, or trusted advisor to manage your financial affairs if you were unable to do so.

• Health Care Power of Attorney —A medical care advance directive, the document that states what medical care you want to receive in extreme situations, is helpful if you are incapacitated. But it’s more effective if you have assigned a health-care proxy. This is someone who knows your wishes in advance and has been given legal power by you to make those decisions if you are unable.

• You also need HIPPAA health care information releases so that the people you designate can have access to your medical records in order to make informed decisions about your medical care.

Over the past 33 years, the Law Offices of Christopher A. Benson has helped more than 900 clients prepare and utilize simple and effective planning techniques to protect them and their families in order to avoid probate, save estate taxes, save money and save added emotional burden that comes from long term illness and/or death of a family member. Give us a call to schedule a free consultation to find out how we can help you and your family.