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 THE BASICS OF ESTATE PLANNING"Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust." - Oliver Wendell HolmesI. Introduction -- What is Estate Planning?Estate Planning refers to the methods and strategies by which a person plans for the care of his or her own person and assets in the event of disability, and for the disposition of assets after death. An estate plan refers to the documents which put that strategy into effect. If you were to define estate planning in plain language, you might put it this way:"I want to control my property while I'm alive, take care of me and my loved ones if I become disabled, and give what I have to whom I want, the way I want, and when I want and, if I can, I want to save every last tax dollar, professional fee, and court cost possible." - courtesy Esperti and Peterson, "The Loving Trust" There are a number of Benefits of Estate Planning: You control the disposition of your assets, rather than allowing state laws of descent and distribution to take over. You can avoid Court-supervised administration, which can increase the cost of probate, and even avoid probate itself. You will be able to select your choice of guardian for your minor children, the personal representative of your estate, or the trustee of your trust. You reduce the possibility of disputes among heirs. You can designate someone to act as your agent in the event of disability, and thus place your financial matters in the hands of someone you select, and avoid expensive guardianship proceedings. You can designate someone to make medical treatment decisions for you in the event of disability, including the power to terminate life support under conditions you set forth. You may be able to reduce or avoid significant estate taxes, probate expenses, and delays. It is the only way to leave gifts to charity- the state will not provide for gifts if you have failed to plan for them. You have the peace of mind of knowing that your affairs are in order, and that you have provided for your family. |
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