Virtually everyone in Flemington has an estate. It’s the collection of things that a person owns, including a house, car, stocks, cash, checking and savings accounts, furniture, life insurance, clothing – everything. For some, estates are vast and valuable. For others, estates are more modest.
But regardless of value or size, your estate can’t go with you when your life ends. That makes the answer to our question – who should have an estate plan? – a clear one: everyone. None of us will be around after our deaths to tell our loved ones how to distribute or dispose of our belongings, so all of us should leave behind a set of instructions.
Estate planning can do much more than tell those left behind what to do with our property. It is also a statement of who we were, the values we held and the people and organizations that mattered most to us.
Estate planning also helps us tell our loved ones what to do in the event that we become incapacitated. It also serves as an invaluable tool for parents who have minor children. You can tell the world who is to care for your kids if you die or become incapacitated.
A clear plan can also help your heirs minimize taxes and legal fees, and can pass your business on to those you trust to do best with it.
Estate planning begins with a conversation with an attorney familiar with the many legal tools available to protect and pass on assets large and small.
Source: EstatePlanning.com, “What is Estate Planning?” Accessed Sept. 11, 2014