ESTATE PLANNING

ESTATE PLANNING

Estate planning is a process involving the counsel of professional advisors who are familiar with your goals and concerns, your assets and how they are owned, and your family structure. It can involve the services of a variety of professionals, including lawyers, accountants, financial planners, life insurance advisors, bankers, and brokers. Plans and planners help provide guidance and tools for the conservation, investment, use, management, and transfer of a person’s property, both during the person’s lifetime and after the person’s death. Wills and trusts are often included in estate plans. 

Wills and Trusts

A will, or a last will and testament, is a legal document that describes how you would like your property and other assets to be distributed after your death. When you make a will, you can also use it to nominate guardians for your children, dependents, or pets. When you pass away with a will, the will is usually presented to a local probate court. This court then authorizes the executor to distribute your assets according to the instructions in your will—as long as there are no disputes or other problems. If you pass away without a will, it is called dying ‘intestate.’ In those cases, a local court will distribute your property according to your state’s intestacy laws. These typically give your spouse or partner, children, parents, siblings or other relatives a part of your property. But this may not necessarily be in the order or amounts you would like. The probate process can also be expensive, time consuming, and intrusive. Court costs, attorney fees, personal representative fees, bonds, and accounting fees all add up. One way to avoid the cost and complications of probate court is with a properly drafted trust. 

A trust is a legal arrangement that allows someone to transfer the financial benefits of property while retaining legal ownership and control. The person who sets up the trust is called the grantor, the person who manages the trust is called the trustee, and the people who benefit from the trust are called the beneficiaries. The same person can hold all three roles, or different people can fill each role.