Your estate is everything you own. Your estate includes all the tangible and intangible assets you have acquired during your lifetime, including those not yet fully paid for—your home, car, furniture, clothing, stocks and bonds, life insurance policies, retirement plans, etc. People make estate plans for many reasons, including the following:
Protecting children. If you have minor children, you need to ensure they are taken care of if something happens to you. You can create a trust to provide support and protection for your children and designate a trustee to manage the assets until your children reach a certain age.
Avoiding probate. Probate is a court-supervised process required when property passes through an individual's Will. The probate process can be time-consuming and costly, take as many as six months or longer, and result in legal fees that consume 5% or more of the estate's assets. A properly drafted estate plan can help avoid probate by using living trusts, joint ownership with rights of survivorship, pay-on-death accounts, beneficiary designations, or other planning strategies.
Reducing or eliminating estate taxes. An effective estate plan can reduce or eliminate federal and state estate taxes. With proper planning, you may be able to pass on more of your assets after your death than with no planning at all.
Controlling who gets what property when you die. Without an estate plan, state law determines who will get your property after you die.
Rocky Mountain Wills and Trusts can help you create a comprehensive estate plan to give you peace of mind about the future of your property and loved ones. We specialize in wills and trusts for asset protection, probate avoidance, estate tax planning, and healthcare planning. Call today when you need an experienced estate lawyer near me to help with your estate planning needs.