Protect Your Family with Estate Planning

What would happen if you were to die five years from now? Would you be ready for such an event? Most people are not ready to face such an end, but we can at least have our financial situation protected for our family and for our loved ones.

You can't tell if your estate plan works until after the fact. There are so many variables in life that makes estate planning complicated. Where I see many of the mistakes is when people cut corners in estate planning with their "simple/cheap" mentality. A good estate plan must articulate the personal and family goals, anticipates problems and a good maintenance plan which adapts to the changes in the family, finances, and law.

However, some people just do not want to talk about their death. Its morbid. While others just do not know how many expenses can result from a death, nor may not know the true total value of their assets. This mentality will also cause unpleasant surprises when your assets are left to the hands of the government to determine how to divide your assets.

I suggest that you form a professional team to help you properly develop your estate plan. Please keep in mind that a financial planner may know all the blocks to a estate plan, but a financial planner may not be licensed to create all of those blocks. Therefore, you may need other members in your professional team:

• Attorney - Needed for drafting legal documents
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - Needed for identification of assets, calculation of the adjusted basis of assets, and tax considerations.
• Licensed Insurance Specialist - Needed to verify assets are protected and that those assets are liquid at death.
• Any Trust Officers That Manage The Assets of Any Trust

Your financial planner should be the person who ties these professionals together in to the estate plan for the client.

When preparing your estate plan you should avoid the following:

* Ridiculously restrictive trusts
* Well-intentioned but unworkable asset divisions
* Do-it-yourself documents that mess things up beyond belief
* Not providing for incapacity, with the amazing statistics for Alzheimer and other dementia, incapacity should not be ignored.
* Young children without a guardian - if you develop your estate plan while your children are young, you should name a guardian for them in case both you and your spouse were to die prematurely.
* Not having the right type and amount of life insurance for survivor income, tax payments, loan repayments, etc.
* Copying the estate plan from your neighbor or relative. Each family have their unique needs and goals.
* Getting estate planning advice from the guy who serve the coffee at Starbucks. Estate planning is a serious matter. The wrong approach can be costly.

Estate planning is not easy, but it should not avoided. The cost of avoidance will be greater than the benefits gained by it. Do not take this aspect of your family lightly, and do not postpone it any longer. Estate planning is not just for the rich, it is for all of us. If you have not done your estate planning yet, I encourage to do it now.