May 20, 2013

The Benefits of Estate Planning

Safeguarding Your Children

Estate planning allows you to safeguard your children including those from previous marriages and those with special needs. Trust provisions can prevent children from spending their inheritance money unwisely. This is especially crucial for children who may not have experience managing their assets. Government benefits for special needs children may be lost when a special needs child inherits money. A trust allows the child to continue receiving governmental benefits in addition to being a beneficiary under the terms of the trust.

Protecting Your Assets

A Revocable Living Trust is much more difficult to contest than a simple Will. Setting up a trust allows you to dictate how, when, and to whom your assets will be distributed. Without any Estate Planning in place the state intestacy statues decide how the assets will be disposed. In addition, probate proceedings are public and incredibly expensive. Setting up a trust allows you to keep your estate private and saves your family both money and time by eliminating the long probate process.

Allowing your wealth to stay in the Family

A living trust can prevent the future creditors and ex-spouses of your children from trying to make a claim on the wealth you leave behind for your children. This is also true in the case of second marriages by your surviving spouse in the event that you predecease them. By putting your assets in a trust you prevent their future spouses and any of their existing children from inheriting your wealth.