Estate Planning and Your Personal Circumstances

Who Should Be Thinking About Estate Planning?

One of the things that keeps some people from thinking about estate planning is that it means taking a look at their own mortality. In other cases, however, people think that they don’t need to worry about estate planning because of the amount of money that they make or other personal circumstances.
The reality, however, is this: If you do not have estate plans, your wishes may not be carried out as most states have regulations in place that are rigid and that only cover the basics.
To give you a sense of what could happen if you have not taken care of estate planning, consider the following circumstances:

• You’re married but have no children. Many people think that, in this circumstance their spouse will simply get everything that they leave behind. In many states, however, the surviving spouse will only receive about half of the estate; the rest will be awarded to the family of the deceased – parents or siblings.
• You’re married and have children. Unless you take control of your estate plan and ensure that there are provisions dividing your estate, you will find that your spouse is not the sole recipient of your estate. In most states, without a will or trust set up, your estate would be divided between your spouse and your children – without an indication that the money should be used for education or the down payment on a home.
• You are single and have one or more children. If you were to pass away without an estate plan, your estate would simply be divided among your children and be awarded to them in a lump sum.

In other words, what you are going to find is that estate planning is not something that you should dread, nor is it something that should be unsettling. Estate planning enables you to take control, and to provide for those who are important to you. By taking the time to plan your estate, you will find that you are able to name a guardian for your children, to reduce the taxes that will need to be paid on your estate, to ensure that family heirlooms are passed down the way that you intended them to be.

Tagged as: Estate Planning, estate planning and children, estate planning and marriage