Estate Planning: Should You Wait?

Should you wait to do your estate planning until you know who should get your money and property? Based on our experience with numerous probate cases, the answer is no. While you may not be 100 percent sure who should receive all of your money and property right now, that should not discourage you from taking the next steps to have your estate plan prepared. Working together, we can discuss your ultimate goals for your money and property and craft a plan that addresses these wishes. In addition, should your life circumstances change, we can change the beneficiaries of your money and property in your will or revocable living trust.

Additionally, who gets your money and property is just one component of an estate plan. An estate plan also provides instructions regarding your medical wishes and appoints individuals to make financial and medical decisions for you in the event you cannot make or communicate them yourself. If you are having trouble determining who will make decisions for you, we can help walk you through the decision-making process. And just as for the recipient of your money and property, you can change the individuals you have named as your trusted decision makers as long as you are mentally able to.

If you do not proactively create your own personal estate plan, the state will use its default plan, known as the state’s intestacy laws, to determine who will receive your money and property, as well as how much money and property those individuals will receive and how.

If you are still alive but need someone to make medical or financial decisions for you and you did not complete your own estate plan, a judge will select someone, often a family member, to make the decisions for you. This is a time-consuming, expensive, and public process that can create additional stress for you and your loved ones during a time of potential crisis.

Many people feel a great sense of relief and peace after putting together their estate plans. Push past the excuses that stand between you and a well-crafted estate plan. We can help.