Common Mistakes To Avoid When Planning Your Estate

 Posted on June 25,2013 in Beneficiaries

Estate planning can be a daunting task. If you do it right, your family will be well cared for long after you are gone. Without an estate plan, your family could be scrambling to pick up the pieces and paying expenses that would not be necessary with an estate plan. According to AARP Magazine, there are some simple but common mistakes people make when beginning to plan their estate. With the availability of online and do-it-yourself documents, many think hiring an attorney is a waste of money. In fact, one of the most important parts of estate planning is the assistance of someone familiar with the complicated legalese you will have to wade through. Retaining an experienced estate planning attorney could end up saving you and your family both money and frustration. According to AARP Magazine, one common mistake people make is “failing to tie your business to your estate plan.” As one attorney told AARP, “parents sometimes do not want to talk to their kids about it and just leave the business to the kids.” This method does not take into consideration how to provide for children who work outside of the business. Sometimes failing to adequately plan for a family or small business means that the business ends up being sold under market, and distribution is not always uniform. Another common mistake is to leave lump sums of money in cash instead of in a trust. A different attorney told AARP the anecdote of a father who left $250,000 “to his heroin-addicted son, who was penniless six months later.” A trust, according to AARP, “stipulates how you want the property distributed... the trustee holds your property and doles it out per your instructions.” A third common mistake is failing to keep your estate plan updated. “Each time the law or your family changes,” reports AARP, “revisit your estate plan.” Even with all this, the most important aspect of estate planning is retaining an experienced estate planning attorney. Do not go through planning your estate alone. Contact a dedicated Chicago-area estate-planning firm today.

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