Estate Planning Myth #1 – You Don’t Need an Estate Plan Because Your Spouse Will Inherit Everything
Who will inherit your estate depends on many different factors, including how your property is titled, who you have named on your beneficiary designations, and the laws of the state where you live and any other state where you own property.
Estate Planning Myth #2 – You Don’t Need an Estate Plan Because Your Family Knows Your Final Wishes
You’ve shared your final wishes with your family and you’re confident that they’ll “do the right thing” after you die. Unfortunately, without having these wishes written down in a valid will or a valid trust, your family may not be able to fulfill your intentions for several reasons. First, how your property is titled will determine who inherits it, not who you’ve told your family you want to inherit it. In addition, if you fail to complete or update the beneficiary designations for assets such as bank accounts and life insurance policies, your family won’t have any authority to tell the bank or insurance company who should inherit the proceeds. Finally, without an estate plan, the laws of the state where you live and any other state where you own property will dictate who inherits your probate estate, not your family.
Estate Planning Myth #3 – Once You’ve Created Your Estate Plan, It’s Done
As the years go by, your life will change. The laws governing wills, estates, probate, and death taxes will also change. This means that eventually your estate plan will become outdated. The only way to insure that your plan will work the way you intend it to work is to pull it out of the drawer every few years and review it.
Final Thoughts About Estate Planning Myths
These are only three of the estate planning myths. Unfortunately there are others. If you have questions about estate planning, please contact my office.