Avoid These Mistakes with Your Estate Plan

“Financial planning is an important part of life. Estate planning is one key aspect of planning for the future. It can feel daunting to take on the task, but once it’s done and your future is organized, it usually feels a lot better.”

Estate planning means putting together a plan on paper, following the letter of the law, when it comes to deciding what should happen to assets when you die. It also includes your decision regarding who will care for your children, who will make decisions on your behalf if you are unable and what kind of care you do or don’t want, when you are seriously ill or injured. It doesn’t have to be difficult, but according to the article “10 Mistakes Often Made When Estate Planning” from SavingAdvice.com, there are ten classic mistakes to avoid.

1. Thinking you don’t have an estate and not having an estate plan. Your estate is whatever you own: a house, regardless of its size, a car, personal items, financial accounts, pets and any items that have monetary or sentimental value. You might think your family will just figure things out when you die. In most cases, they won’t, or not easily. That creates a burden for them.
2. Thinking only about after death. Most of what is done in estate planning does concern what happens after you die, but it also includes protection for you and loved ones while you are living. Certain documents are created to protect you if you become incapacitated. It also includes life insurance, disability insurance and long-term care insurance.
3. Not making sure all of your estate planning documents work together. Let’s say you have a life insurance policy and the beneficiary is your first husband. If you remarry, you need to update that form. What if you named someone to be your beneficiary on retirement accounts, but you have learned since you named them that the person won’t be able to manage the money? An estate planning attorney can help you put all of the pieces together to work correctly.
4. Not planning for minor children. If you have children who are under age 18, your estate plan is the document that tells the court two very important things: who you want to raise them (to be their guardian) and who you want to be in charge of the money left for their care.
5. Not taking advantage of trusts. A revocable trust gives you control over assets while you are alive, but passes control to a trustee when you die. It, therefore, avoids probate for the assets in the trust. However, if you don’t do this correctly, you’ll create more problems than you solve.
6. Forgetting about taxes. An estate plan helps minimize taxes for your estate and for your heirs. Otherwise, your heirs could receive far less, and Uncle Sam will receive far more than you wanted.
7. Failing to set aside adequate liquid assets. When you die, your loved ones will need to pay for a funeral, which is very expensive. Or you may own a business that you left to heirs—they may need a certain amount of cash to continue operations, while things are being settled. Make arrangements so you don’t leave loved ones or business partners high and dry.
8. Avoiding the tough conversations while you’re alive. Maybe you want to leave your children the family home, but they don’t want it. You may also want to be sure they take your ancient Pekinese dog, which they never liked. Talk with your heirs about your wishes and understand if your wishes are not the same as theirs. Adjust your estate plan accordingly.
9. Overlook the concept of secondary beneficiaries and executors. If you have three children and name only one as a beneficiary, what happens if that one dies? The same goes for naming an executor. You’ll want to name a primary and a secondary executor, and multiple beneficiaries.
10. Thinking estate planning is done once and finished forever. Estate planning is never really done, until you die. Life changes, your relationships change and assets change. Just as you do your taxes once a year, you should review your estate plan every time there is a big change in your life or every three or four years.

Reference: SavingAdvice.com (July 24, 2020) “10 Mistakes Often Made When Estate Planning”

For more information on asset preservation and estate planning, please visit my estate planning website.