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When it comes to estate planning, many people think only of the practical benefits. After all, a will can help ensure that your loved ones are taken care of after you die, and a trust can provide for them if something happens to you. But what many people don’t realize is that estate planning can also offer significant emotional benefits.

By creating a will and other estate planning documents, you can ensure that your loved ones are taken care of after you’re gone. This peace of mind can be extremely valuable and can help you to enjoy your life more fully knowing that you have everything in order.

Estate planning can provide significant emotional benefits in addition to the many practical advantages it offers. The peace of mind that comes with knowing your loved ones will be taken care of after you’re gone can be invaluable and can help you enjoy your life more fully. Additionally, estate planning can give you a greater sense of control.

Protect your loved ones in case of an unexpected death or incapacity

One of the most important benefits of estate planning is that it can give you peace of mind. Knowing that your loved ones will be taken care of after you’re gone can be a huge weight off your shoulders and can allow you to enjoy your life more fully.

You’ll feel good when you finish your estate plan, knowing you’ve done all you can to protect your family, you, and your money the best way possible. It’s a feeling of relief that your family won’t have to shoulder the huge financial and emotional burdens of probate.

Avoid Probate

            Avoid Probate for your family so they don’t have to shoulder the extreme emotional and financial burdens of probate.

            By the way, a Last Will and Testament alone does not avoid probate. It requires probate.

What is Probate?

The probate process starts when someone passes away, and the court needs to review and validate their will. Once a probate judge determines the estate is valid, and the will was executed correctly, the appointed executor or administrator can proceed with paying owed debts, transferring assets to named beneficiaries, and managing the other aspects of closing out an estate.

Probate laws differ depending on the state where the assets are held. Even if you and the deceased lived in the same state, they might have property elsewhere, leaving you with multiple probate cases to handle. While the procedure for administering their estate where you reside might be straightforward, probate in another state could be more complex.

Save Money

            Save your family a bunch of money. Probate costs around 6% of the total value of the estate by the time it is done. The cost of Probate for a $300,000 estate (including the house) costs $18,000 at 6%. The cost of a plan now is only 1% of the cost of a $300,000 estate and saves your family from the burdens of Probate.

Save Time

            Save your family time. Probate takes 8 months or more at a minimum. With alternative planning (i.e., trusts, deeds, etc.) that can be cut to a month or less.

Protect Your Rights

            Protect your rights to make your own decisions with durable powers of attorney. This means that who you want will control your financial, medical, legal, and personal choices if you are incapacitated. Otherwise, your family will probably have to get a Judge to appoint somebody. And that person will be under the Judge’s supervision. That process is called a guardianship.

You can expect a guardianship to cost about $3,500.00 up front plus the costs of the annual reports.

Healthcare

Protect your right to make your own medical decisions, instead of a Judge by putting it in writing.  

Protect your right to refuse medical treatment with a Living Will. This document tells the doctors your wishes if you are terminal, can’t make decisions, and the end is near.

If you would like help setting up your estate plan from a Springdale estate planning attorney, call (479)717-6300 to schedule a complimentary initial meeting.