16 Benefits of Estate Planning | Springdale Estate Planning Lawyer
Here are 16 benefits of estate planning. They aren’t in any particular order.
1. Certainty & Control
Planning leaves you in control instead of a Judge. You get to decide who gets what, when, how, and how much. When you can’t make decisions, you’ve already decided who will make decisions for you instead of a Judge. You can be certain that your wishes are carried out.
2. Peace of Mind
Knowing who’s in charge often leads to a sense of peace of mind that only comes with a plan. Planning makes sure your affairs are in order. A plan leads to a sense of accomplishment.
3. Make Your Wishes Known (in Writing)
You may have told your family what you want. But did you tell them all the same thing? Will they honor your wishes? Be certain they will honor your wishes by putting them in writing. By putting your wishes in writing your entire family will know what you wanted.
4. Protect Your and Your Family’s Privacy
Your default plan is probate. Probate is a public court proceeding. Many of your personal and your family’s private information will be published in the public court record. Financial predators monitor this information and prey on your family.
5. Protect Yourself from Legal Hassles
Estate planning is most often associated with distributing the inheritance. But, if you are sick, unable to make decisions, or care for yourself, your plan can help protect you and your assets. Your plan can keep you and your family out of court when you can’t make decisions.
6. Reduce Taxes
If are one of the fortunate few that will be subject to gift tax, then planning can help reduce or delay taxes due. But there is a common mistake people make that subjects their family to capital gains taxes. If you can avoid this mistake, then you can reduce the capital gains taxes due.
7. Plan for Incapacity
It’s a fact of life that at some point we will all probably need help making decisions. Whether its age, dementia, accident, or medical incident, we all lose our ability to make decisions. Or we are in a place where we just can’t conduct business and need help with things like banking. A plan covers all these cases.
8. Provide for You and Your Family the Way You Want To
Don’t let state law and a Judge decide how your family is provided for. You decide who gets what, when, how, and how much. You decide who oversees your decisions and distributing your assets. Then you get it written down in a document that overrides the state’s default estate plan for you.
9. Avoid Probate
One of the main goals for many people is to avoid probate. Planning does avoid and prevent probate. You don’t necessarily need a trust to avoid probate. Planners have other methods of avoiding probate.
10. Support Charity
If you have supported charities during your lifetime, or want to set an example for your children, you can leave money to a charity or your Church. All your planner needs to know is the name and address of the charity or Church. With a little research they’ll get all the legal information needed to include the charity in your plan.
11. Stop Family Fights Before They Start
Family asset disputes are more common than you think. Each family member may feel that they deserve a specific portion of the estate. These types of debates are severe and can end up in court if not resolved. Having family members pit themselves against one another is not the ideal situation. However, by having an estate plan, you can eliminate this process for your family. While some family members may be upset with the estate plan, they cannot go against your desire and documented word.
12. Save Your Family from Difficult Decisions
It’s hard on a family when they must guess at your decisions especially during already difficult times. You can save your family from guessing by making your wishes known as to what will happen and who is in charge. You can leave instructions on everything from who is in charge to what songs to play relieving your family from making those decisions.
13. Make it Easier on Your Family
This is a huge reason to plan. Stop the guessing and make your wishes known. By making sure everything is taken care of ahead of time, you’ll keep your family from fighting in and out of court. Your family will know who is in charge and how much power that person has. Even little things like what flowers and songs to use can be documented so your family doesn’t quibble over your favorites.
14. Save Money
Planning saves money. A plan is typically cheaper than going to court to get permission to make decisions. A plan is typically cheaper than probate. Probate will run 3 to 6 percent of the gross value of an estate.
15. Save Time
Planning saves time. Going to court to get permission to make decisions takes time. A power of attorney goes into effect immediately. Probate takes 8 months or more. Transferring property through planning is almost immediate.
16. Avoid Tragic Financial Mistakes
While not a part of estate planning per se, this is a huge issue. Too many people try to plan on their own by making children co-owners with right of survivorship. While this accomplishes the goal of avoiding probate, it opens the assets to huge liabilities. If that child is involved in a lawsuit, gets in IRS trouble, divorces, or has a car accident, your assets are exposed to their creditors, spouses, and more. Proper planning keeps their name off your assets but gives them the power needed to manage them if needed.