Need and Tools for Estate Planning

Need for Estate Planning

Provide support and financial stability for your surviving spouse, children, and grandchildren.
Preserve your wealth for later generations.
Make sure your wishes are carried out when you can no longer manage your affairs. It’s important to have both a power of attorney and a living will.
Support a favorite charity or cause with a gift of money, securities, or other property.
Distribute assets in a timely fashion, with a minimum of legal hassle.
Minimize taxes and expenses that can go along with transferring assets.
Provide enough cash to meet expenses and prevent the forced sale of assets.
Avoid problems for your loved ones by ensuring that the beneficiaries named on your life insurance and retirement plans are still the people you want to benefit.
Protect your family’s privacy with an estate plan designed to prevent your will from becoming public record.
Set and meet expectations of your survivors so there is no confusion or misunderstanding.

Tools for Estate Planning

Wills: A will is a legal document that lays out the fate of an individual’s property after his or her death. It states who receives the property and in what amounts.
Trusts: A trust is an arrangement where a person entrusts property to one person or an organization. The person or trustee is taxed with managing the property on behalf of the beneficiary or beneficiaries.
Power of Attorney: Power of attorney gives a person or organization the legal power to handle the holder’s affairs when he/she is unable to do so. The person or organization that is appointed is referred to as an “attorney-in-fact” or “agent.”
A business succession plan: Estate planning for business owners is significantly different than for people who do not own a business. The business owner may want to specify who the business should be transferred to upon his/her death to avoid any disputes.