Top 3 reasons to create an estate plan NOW | Bentonville Estate Planning Attorney
The top 3 reasons to create an estate plan now are:
- You can’t predict the future. Tomorrow is not promised. Accidents and illness happen unexpectedly.
- The government has a default plan written for you and your family. You probably won’t like it. It’s expensive, time consuming, and frustrating.
- Incapacity often strikes without warning. You should be prepared.
Let’s be honest. Estate planning is an easy thing to put off. No one likes to think about their own mortality let alone making a financial investment into what seems like a lot of “what ifs” and decisions that can be made at a later time.
No Crystal Ball to Tell You When You Need a Plan: Reason #1 of 3 Reasons to Create an Estate Plan Now
I could tell story after story about people that either put off their estate plan until it was too late or people that created it just in the nick of time.
Accidents, illness, and death can strike without warning. No one has a crystal ball to predict when the crises of life will strike. If you have minor children, you must have guardians named who can raise them if something happens to you or your spouse. If you care what happens to your assets and want your family to continue speaking after your passing, you need to document your wishes. You may think you have all the time in the world, but tomorrow is promised to no one. Do what you can do now to make things as easy as possible for yourself and the people you love if the unthinkable happens.
The Government’s Plan for You, Your Spouse, Your Money, and Your Family: Reason #2 of 3 Reasons to Create an Estate Plan Now
Which leads to the second reason, the government has a plan written for you and you probably won’t like it.
Remember, you are not obligated to create an estate plan; as long as you like the one the government provides for you, your family, your home, and your life savings. Let me ask you a question: “Do you think the government’s plan is going to be the least expensive option for your family, the one that saves the most in taxes, takes the least amount of time, keeps your family out of the courts, keeps everything private, and is the least likely to cause family disputes?” I think you know the answer to that. The only way to override the state’s plan is to legally create one of your own.
Unless you want a judge in control, it’s important to make your wishes known and documented while you’re in good health and of sound mind.
Incapacity: Reason #3 of 3 Reasons to Create an Estate Plan Now
The last reason to make a plan now is incapacity.
Estate planning is about so much more than who gets your stuff when you pass away. You may feel like you have plenty of time to think about death and issues related to aging, but what about incapacity? Who would speak for you if you were in an accident, got sick, or became disabled? Even married couples can have trouble accessing accounts and making decisions for their spouse without the right legal documents in place. Unless you want a judge calling the shots, it’s important to make your wishes known and to legally document them while you’re still in good health and of sound mind.
If a crisis happens during your lifetime and you don’t have a plan, you run the risk of losing flexibility, and you may even lose control. Even if your loved ones want to help if you get sick or become incapacitated, they could be barred from getting involved with your affairs because of privacy or HIPAA laws. If that happens, all decisions about your care and your future will be made by a judge who doesn’t know you or what is important to you. And, once a court gets involved in your family life, finances, and affairs, the court stays involved until you either regain capacity or pass away. That means ongoing legal fees, court costs, and stress for your family.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that an estate plan is a roadmap that’s designed to keep the government and the courts out of your and your family’s affairs and to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for yourself and your loved ones in the event of illness, incapacity, or death. It’s one of the most loving gifts you can give them. If this article has caused you to rethink your choice of going with the government’s plan for your affairs, we are here to help you.
If you would like to discover how to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible to preserve, protect, and pass on your home and life savings while keeping the government out of your and your family’s affairs, call our office right now to schedule an estate planning design meeting.