You have worked hard all your life to build wealth and a lasting legacy. Are your documents bulletproof and made of titanium? You may want a qualified attorney to check them to avoid these expensive mistakes and protect your loved ones’ futures.
- Forgetting to ask an expert. An expert’s review can be one of the best possible investments you can make in estate planning. The peace of mind of an expert review can relieve stress. It is perfectly ok to draft your own documents, but then have an expert review and perform the final check.
- What about your business? Many people fail to connect their business to an estate plan. If you are a business owner, always include the business in your plan. Assumptions of “leaving the family business to the kids” can wreak havoc. In addition, not being connected to an estate plan can leave employees of the family business in quite the conundrum.
- Lump sums left behind. Lump sums of cash should never be left for a family member. Leaving lump sums in a trust are a much smarter option for tax planning purposes. It is also a smarter option if the heir may not be the best with money. A financial trust may save them from financial ruin.
- Always update your estate plan. Family or estate laws can change often. Each time a law change occurs, you should review your estate plan in order to keep the documents updated with the current laws. An annual review of the estate plan is always a smart idea as family dynamics can quickly change with marriages, divorces, births, and deaths. By keeping the estate plan updated, family conflict and financial feuds can be kept to a minimum.
Estate planning can be a simple process, but only if it is continually executed with great care and good intent. An estate plan is one of the best methods to ensure the future security of your family.
Attorney Beauvais gives some insights into how easy (with the right professional), important estate planning can be. She’ll make sure you avoid those common estate planning mistakes.
I recently just finished working with a younger couple who had two small children. They had never done an estate plan before and decided they needed to have their wills done. I put together an estate plan for them that consisted of Wills, Power of Attorney documents, Health Care Proxies, and a Trust for the children. After the whole process was complete they were relieved to be done, but amazed at how easy it was. The reason they put this off was because they had no idea where to begin, what questions to ask, and in fact didn’t even know for sure what they wanted for their children. They were so happy that it was easy to do, and that I led them along the way with the right questions and suggestions.
