The reasons for needing an inheritance plan are as varied as the individuals involved and, apparently, the many myths surrounding the subject are quite detrimental. For example, do you have to be “rich” to need a housing plan? The answer is, “No”, one does not need to be rich to need an inheritance plan. All you need is the desire to bequeath to your heirs a large amount of wealth that you may keep during your lifetime.
Among the main benefits of a well-designed estate plan are minimizing the costs of passing your inheritance on to the beneficiaries, reducing administrative hassle and ensuring to the extent possible that your distribution wishes are followed.
For example, if you own a home, have young children or grandchildren, grown children in their own marriage, are divorced, own a business, or expect to receive your own inheritance, you need to seriously consider the benefits of good planning. your property. Instead of bequeathing the problems to your heirs, you can instead choose to bequeath the greatest amount of wealth with the least amount of trouble through inheritance planning.
The biggest hurdle, oftentimes, is building a lasting relationship with an attorney who specializes in estate planning. Navigating through the Yellow Pages, or asking friends for referrals or using the internet is often a haphazard process without much guarantee of success.
Interesting Reasons to Build a Plantation Plan
Among the common motivations that compel the establishment of plantation plans are the following. The more the following reasons apply to any situation, the greater the need to complete inheritance planning to not only build and protect your hard-earned wealth, but also to transfer your wealth with as little thinning and expense as possible. With the right housing plan, you can plan ahead to:
1. Appoint who will manage your affairs if you become disabled and when you die. If you fail to do so, the courts will not only decide who receives your wealth, but also who will distribute it. You never know who the court will appoint. Take control of your own destiny!
2. Plan for Medicaid and its impact on your possessions if you have to go to a nursing home. Today’s nursing homes can cost as much as $75,000 per year, or more, and long-term stays can easily impoverish all but the richest families. However, with proper planning, you can protect your assets and keep your family’s wealth intact. Since there is a 50-50 chance that the average adult will spend at least one year in a long-term care facility, it becomes very clear that this type of planning is essential.
3. Avoid wills, during your life and when you die. Do you want the court to control you or your assets? The probate process is public, expensive, and time-consuming and should be avoided whenever possible. Hand over your money to your heirs quickly, personally and efficiently by creating a proper inheritance plan.
4. Protecting children from previous marriages if they die first. Planning a second wedding can be tricky and complicated. Expert legal guidance is required to ensure your assets are preserved and your children from your first marriage will receive a proper share of their inheritance.
5. Protect the inheritance of the heirs from lawsuits, divorce and other claims. Make sure your assets are inherited by people you love, not people you don’t want to receive, such as ex-spouse, in-laws, creditors, or the IRS.
6. Discipline children or grandchildren who may be incapable or inexperienced in managing wealth. Make sure your children or grandchildren spend their inheritance wisely and protect their inheritance from inexperience and mismanagement by including certain conditions and rewards in your inheritance plan.
7. Provide for the needs of children and grandchildren with special needs. The loss of government benefits can wipe out your property. Special consideration and planning is needed to avoid loss of government benefits.
8. Insure that a certain part of your property actually goes to grandchildren, charities, etc. Without planning, a judge will decide who inherits your assets. Pre-planning your estate ensures that your intentions and directions are followed.
9. Protect part of your estate if you die first and your living spouse remarries. A Special Trust, commonly referred to as an “AB Trust”, can be created to protect your current living spouse and to ensure that your assets do not fall into the wrong hands. Take action now to protect your family.
10. Address the different needs of different children. No two children are alike. Tailored inheritance planning can ensure that each child’s personal needs are addressed in the way you think is best.
11. Prevent or prevent challenges to your housing plans. Building a well-designed and comprehensive Revocable Living Trust now makes it difficult to object when you are no longer around to speak for yourself.
12. Encourage and reward your heirs who make smart life decisions and prevent the depletion of your estate from those who don’t. There comes a point where giving children more money can make them less productive and less happy. The Family Incentive Trust can be matched with financial incentives that include your family values and goals to encourage and motivate your children. Such trust can be a loving way to support your children while inspiring them to become productive members of society and fostering their sense of self-worth.
13. Ensure education for children, or grandchildren, regardless of what they (or parents) dream of with inheritance. Building an educational trust can ensure that your child or grandchild uses their inheritance for education and does not fund a vacation in Las Vegas.
14. Plan a “Brady Bunch” family inheritance plan and ensure that stepparents don’t spend on your children’s inheritance and/or support your spouse without sacrificing the inheritance meant for the children from a previous marriage. Divorce and subsequent marriages can have a negative impact on the inheritance you want for your children if your inheritance plans are not reviewed and updated. Oftentimes, the original “traditional” estate plans will not meet the needs or provide the protection needed for your new mixed family so proper planning is essential.
15. Pursuing a charitable cause You may not feel capable of doing it. Cutting probate fees significantly allows you to also leave a legacy to a charitable organization you admire.
If your desire for wealth or character falls into any of the above groups, you should contact an estate planning attorney in your area. Often times, waiting to make decisions about distributing your wealth or deciding who can make decisions for you in the case of death or disability will result in your dreams for your children and grandchildren, or your favorite charity, never coming true. As such, delays in making estate plans can cause confusion, chaos and extreme costs for your heirs which can be easily avoided by contacting a highly qualified, trained and tested estate planning specialist in your area.