No estate plan or a bad estate plan will most likely result in tough times for your heirs.
While not all estate plans are equal, they can generally be easy to implement as Kiplinger wrote about recently in “4 Strategies to Avoid an Estate-Planning Mishap.”
They include:
- Get a basic will that details who you want to have your property and what they should have, or
- Create a living trust and put your most important assets in it. With a trust in place most of your estate will not need to go through probate after you pass away, which makes things much easier on your family.
- Make sure all of your financial accounts are properly titled. Some you might want to put in your new trust. For others you can make them payable on death so they will automatically go to a person of your designation after you pass away.
- Consider getting a life insurance policy. If your family is in need of cash after you pass away, they will have access to it through the life insurance benefit. This is a good way to make sure that your family has what it needs while waiting for your estate to be legally settled.
An estate planning attorney can guide you through the process that results in a good plan for your situation.
Reference: Kiplinger (Aug. 2016) “4 Strategies to Avoid an Estate-Planning Mishap.”
