People may dismiss the idea of creating an estate plan because they aren’t wealthy or elderly. People who choose to believe that might be underestimating what an estate plan is capable of. For example, young couples may meet with an estate planning attorney because they have chosen a guardian for their child if they should pass away unexpectedly.
An experienced attorney can walk you through ways to even plan for college through estate planning. Though you can protect your assets, the benefits of estate planning extend beyond them.
Medical Planning
Estate planning is an effective way of making the difficult decisions of tomorrow right now. When done correctly, your plan expresses your wishes and intentions. If you are involved in an accident and cannot make medical decisions, who can do so on your behalf? By declaring these now, you have peace of mind knowing that your wishes will be carried out. Furthermore, your accident will not force a family member to make decisions for you—without knowing what you wanted.
Avoiding Probate
Probate can be costly, public, and time-consuming. There are some benefits and additional drawbacks, but choosing to bypass it is a decision you will arrive at with your attorney. With the assistance of legal counsel, you can create a trust which not only protects your assets but avoids probate.
Additional Layers of Control
There are risks of living without an estate plan. Some of the benefits of an estate plan come with circumventing the complications of not planning. You have died intestate when you pass away without having done any, and your property gets distributed according to law rather than your wishes.
Failing to create an estate plan forfeits your ability to dictate the fate of your assets. You lose the chance to appoint a trustee (trust) or an executor (will). For example, imagine if you are in your second marriage and have children from a previous one. When you pass away (without having created an estate plan), a significant amount of your estate will likely pass to your spouse. It doesn’t matter if you intended certain things to go to your children. The assets get distributed per the law rather than your wishes.
Select Law, PLLC
Select Law has a team of dedicated and experienced attorneys who create estate plans that you can rely on. Regardless of whether you are sitting down to make your first plan or need to modify an existing one, Select Law caters to a wide range of clients throughout North Carolina and Virginia. Contact us today to schedule your consultation.
Sara Josey
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