Money
and taxes aside, here are 7 good reasons you need an estate plan …
Estate planning is not just
about taxes. While it is too easy to focus on taxes, namely avoiding heavy
taxation, there is far more to consider when making your own estate plan.
Estate planning is truly an
activity of planning for all aspects
of your life and for the wellbeing of your loved ones.
A recent article in The Examiner makes the case for estate
planning, appropriately titled the “Top 7 reasons you need an estate plan—even
if you have only $500 in the bank.”
Cutting right to the chase, here
are the seven reasons listed in the article:
- Your healthcare
- Avoiding probate
- Avoiding family feuds, knowing that sentimental goods
are just as likely to incite a family squabble - Ensuring your beneficiaries on your retirement accounts
are, indeed, your intended heirs - Ensuring for the care of the kids, and maybe even the
grandkids - Managing complicated assets
- Ensuring for the succession of leadership in your
family business
You see, your estate is the sum
of the aspects of your life. Your “legal” life touches your “personal” life,
touches your “financial” life, touches your “medical” life, and so on and so
forth. That is a lot to think about, think through, and plan.
Much of an estate plan involves
wrapping your mind around these details to ensure the good of your family and
even your own good, later in life. In the end, these considerations are much
more important that merely escaping the estate tax or other taxes.
Please
visit our website for information on
elder law and estate planning issues, and sign up for our freemonthlye-newsletter.
The archive on our website contains numerous blog posts on these legal
areas as well. You can also “friend” us
on Facebook (R Christine Brown) to receive periodic posts on elder law issues.
Reference: The Examiner
(August 24, 2013) “Top 7 reasons you need an estate plan—even
if you have only $500 in the bank”