Whether old or young, single or married, divorced or living as a joint tenants, we all have differing situations. This also means that no two estate plans will look alike! With that being said, how can we make sure that our estate plan is built in a way that will be the most beneficial for our family?
One of the first steps in the process is to get legal advice about your own situation. As your life changes, so will you estate plan.
A lot of people may think that doing nothing is the best thing they can do, because then their children will just inherit everything through the law of intestacy and you won't have to spend a nickel on estate planning. But there may be things that people don't think about when they let that happen! For example, what if you died before your children turn 18? They would not be legally old enough to inherit. Better yet, who would be their guardians in the event that you or your spouse were unable to do so? What if they are over the age of 18, but have a gambling, alcohol abuse or drug problem? What if they cannot be trusted with money? These are all questions to think about.
Another situation comes into play when there are blended families. Perhaps you got remarried later in life and now have stepchildren that you call your own. Or perhaps you are a single person, who has no family to leave your assets to, so you have decided that you want to leave them to friends or charities. These are all different circumstances that call for a unique kind of estate plan.
Schneider Rasche LLC can help assist you in making an estate plan that will best fit your needs. The first step in this process is to go to an estate planning workshop to gather all of the fundamental information that you need to know before coming in for an appointment. Join us at our next workshop, we would love to see you there!