Top 5 Reasons to Plan Your Estate

Let’s face it, we rarely believe that something will happen to us this year..but what if it did? Are you confident in what the outcome will be for the people that you love the most?

There are plenty of reasons to plan your estate now. I have listed five of the top reasons below. Although numbered, they are in no particular order of importance because everyone has different priorities and concerns.

If anything on this list strikes you as a concern, imagine the effect on your loved ones if you fail to take action. This should inspire you to make a firm to commitment to resolve this as soon as possible. Pick a date this year in which you will commit to competing your estate plan, and stick to it!

Okay, here are the top 5 reasons…

1)      Protect your family in the event of your incapacity. Without a properly drafted estate plan, your family will likely have challenges in managing any assets in your name, including your home. A court supervised conservatorship (otherwise referred to as a living probate) in which all of your transactions are recorded and affirmed through a series of court hearings will generally be required.  This public process goes on indefinitely, and requires your family to convince a judge (and in some cases even a jury) that you are unable to manage your own finances.

2)      Make your wishes known regarding distribution of your assets in the event of your death. Without an estate plan, any assets left in your name alone at your death will be left up to state law, and the probate court system, to determine who will receive those assets. 

3)      Avoid the delay and expenses of probate, and keep your affairs private with a living trust. Even if you have a valid will at the time you pass away, a court supervised process called probate will be required to inventory everything that you own and approve its distribution to your beneficiaries (spouse, children etc). The probate process is a public process in which anyone can review your probate file and determine what you have, who is scheduled to receive it, and when. Especially in today’s society, many people prefer to protect their loved ones by keeping their affairs private, which can only be accomplished through a properly drafted (and funded) living trust.

4)      Protect assets and keep them in the family.  Many people are concerned that property left to a child will be inherited by his or her spouse if that child were to die prematurely, or if the couple were to divorce. Leaving property to a child in trust helps ensure that those assets are kept separate and pass according to your wishes (i.e. to grandchildren).  These trusts may also protect asset from creditors if a child is ever involved in a lawsuit (business or personal) or collections effort. 

5)      Protect minor children by designating a guardian. Parents with minor children must ensure that they can decide who will raise their children if they die before those children become adults. Without a proper estate plan, a judge will make that decision under his or her own discretion. 

Celebrity Deaths Remind Us of the Need for Estate Planning

Funny how the "unthinkable" gets a bit closer to home when we learn about celebrities who fail to properly plan. This video points out how these issues impact all of us. It also explains the difference between a will and a trust with a nice twist that helps it make sense.

Wills in 3 Minutes (Video)

You've probably heard that everyone needs a will. Here is an explanation of what wills do, and why they are important.

http://video.about.com/wills/What-Is-a-Will-.htm

Trusts in 1 Minute (Video)

The video below provides a helpful overview of how trusts differ from wills and demonstrates how they are superior planning vehicles.

http://video.about.com/wills/What-Is-a-Will-.htm

A Trust is Like a Business

For many people (and myself for a period of time), understanding the concept of a trust can be difficult. It need not be. Think of a trust as being a business. You are creating a new legal entity. If you create it during your lifetime, you don't even have even get a separate tax id number for your trust. Instead, much like a sole proprietorship or partnership, your trust will be treated as an extension of you as an individual (or individuals in the case of a joint trust).

• Business Plan: Your trust document will contain your business plan. This plan will include important components to ensure its success both now and into the future. For example, your plan will probably provide that you will be in full control of your property while you are alive and well. It will also provide for a seamless transfer of control over your affairs should you become disabled at any point in your life (and that trasnsfer should be structured in a way that excludes lengthy and expensive court involvement). Finally, you'll have instructions that give whatever property you have in your trust to whom you want, when you want, and in the way you want. Some people even take the extra step of documenting some of the key values and principals they want to pass on, including how they feel about their loved ones.

• Finances & Management: Once your trust is established (either now by signing it in front of a notary in the case of a living trust-based plan, or upon your death upon order of the probate court in the case of a will-based plan), you start funding your trust with of all of your assets (except for retirement accounts). For example, your trust will own the interest in your your house, land, bank accounts, investments, and life insurance. Again, remember that while you are alive and well you have full control to manage your trust assets just as you're used to doing right now. You can also change the terms of your trust document (or business plan) anytime that you want to while you are alive and well. Regardless of whether or not you make any changes, it is important to briefly review your plan every year to make sure it stays on track with your life situation.

• Succession & Transfer: If you become disabled during your life, your successor trustee (the person you named in your business plan to succeed you) will be able to manage your affairs on your behalf. When you pass away, your trust doesn't die, but lives on to provide for the transfer of your assets in any way or over any length of time that you desire. Children's inheritances are protected from creditors as long as their property stays in the trust as opposed to being owned in their own name (kind of like a corporation or an LLC). My trust by the way, provides that my children's shares will remain in their trusts until they are 40 years old. I've drafted many that gave it all outright, and many that included lifetime trusts for each child. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just find the way that suits your values and your personality.

That's pretty much all there is to it. Trusts are really pretty simple creatures when compared to a well organized business.