What Is Estate Planning?

Your estate includes everything you have accumulated in your life – money, homes, life insurance, furniture, and anything else that is important to you. A properly designed estate plan ensures that all that you have worked so hard for is distributed to the people or organizations you care about the most.

Estate plans are not just for the elderly or disabled and often times people delay in creating them because they think they don’t have enough, they aren’t old enough, or just simply too busy. However, properly drafting an estate plan can help ensure that should the unexpected happen, you have prepared accordingly, giving peace of mind to yourself and to your family.

What Is Included In An Estate Plan?

To ensure that your possessions are distributed exactly as you wish, we will design a last will and testament that details every distribution you wish to make. This can include gifts of cash or property, donations to organizations, or funds held in trust for minors or other persons for whom you wish funds to be held for their benefit.

What About During My Life?

As you age, it is possible that there may be a time that you are unable to make health care or financial decisions for yourself due to unexpected circumstances. Properly designed advance directives can prevent court involvement as to who will make these decisions for you. Advance directives normally include a power of attorney, a health care power of attorney, and a living will.

What If I Don’t Prepare Any Documents?

If you don’t prepare any advance directives and need someone to manage your financial and/or health care decisions during your life, then a court will need to appoint a conservator to make the decisions for you. This is a costly and time-consuming event, and authority could be given to someone different than you would have chosen.

If you do not create a last will and testament, that means you will die intestate, and the state will distribute your possessions according to their intestacy laws, which may be different than what you would have wanted.

Is A Revocable Living Trust A Good Option?

Revocable living trusts are another way to help manage your assets during your lifetime. You have the ability to create, fund, and modify the trust as you wish during your lifetime, and the assets contained within will be passed to your named beneficiaries when you pass away. Living trusts can also be beneficial if you own out-of-state property to prevent opening probate in that state to pass that property through your will.

Call Today About Your Estate Plan.

Complete this form to schedule a meeting with JLCarey & Associates, PLLC today to discuss how an estate plan can ensure that your wishes are carried out, and that your legacy passes to those most important to you.