According to popular belief, estate planning is only for rich and wealthy people. This is, however, not true at all. It is more or less important for everyone.
Estate planning simply means to decide and secure who will inherit your assets after your demise. The majority of people only think about earning more and increasing assets in their lifetime. They feel a little about what will happen to their assets after they are gone. It costs them dearly.
However, estate planning is not just crucial for future generations. A well-thought-out plan has many more implications. In this post, we are going to point out how many blessings can estate planning brings to you, your family, and your future generations.
1. Estate planning prevents unwanted inheritors
Like it or not, your state could have a pre-written will for you. Or if you die without a will, then the state will decide who will be your beneficiaries. In Alberta, the wills and succession act specifies what will happen to your wealth if you don’t have a will.
In this case, you can see that there is a chance to pass down your wealth to unintended beneficiaries. An estate planning lawyer can easily solve this problem. He can ensure that your property goes to your intended inheritor’s hand.
2. It helps to reduce the estate tax
Federal estate taxes or state inheritance tax could bring a significant loss to your wealth. It could be an unwanted burden to your inheritors. You can reduce or some cases eliminate estate taxes by setting up alter ego trusts or joint partner trusts.
In addition to these trusts, you can follow some estate planning techniques to make the tax less burdensome with the help of an expert estate planning lawyer.
Note that estate planning Canada doesn’t need to deal with inheritance tax since Canada abolished it in 1972.
3. It protects the young inheritors
The age gap between parents and children could sometimes be big. The parents always get worried about the future of their young children. The only thing that guarantees a secure future for young children is a perfect estate planning.
As a parent, you know what’s best for your children. You can appoint a guardian for them in case you die before they turn 18. If you die without a will or plan, the court will decide the fate of your children.
4. Helps you to avoid probate
Among many things, you really don’t want this probate thing to happen to you. Probate is the court-authorized process of verifying your will (if you have one), estimating the value of your estate, paying off any unpaid taxes and bills and then distributing your remaining assets to the rightful inheritors (whoever the court deems).
Trust me, this is more horrible than it sounds. You want to avoid it at any cost. I think probate is one of the main reasons people want to do estate planning.
5. Helps you to avoid a family dispute
Most family dispute occurs during the distribution of property. Things could be messier if you have multiple marriages, and there are children in every marriage. You don’t want this mess to see the court if you can. Estate planning is the only way to save your family from this type of contention.
You can sort out many things very quickly. The same things may get messy after your death. So you need to arrange a family meeting and with their likings and approval, can plan a perfect will for everyone.
6. Protects your property
Estate planning is not just helpful to secure your wealth for your heirs. It also helps you to protect your current assets. To do estate planning, you need to consult with an experienced lawyer. You and your lawyer then have to go through every document of your wealth.
Thus, you can be well aware of any legal dispute or lawsuit you may face. You can fix it instantly or prepare to fight it properly. In brief, estate planning will give you a head start to deal with this sort of problem.
7. Restrict children’s access to the assets
Getting control of a lot of wealth, all of a sudden may not be a good thing for your children. You want your children to inherit your assets. But you don’t want your children to spoil all of your wealth or get spoiled by your wealth.
A proper state planning can save your wealth from getting wasted. Your wealth means nothing if your children can’t enjoy it in the right way.
8. Fulfill the philanthropic goals
You may have many unfinished businesses that need to be dealt with after your death. Philanthropy is one of those goals. If you have a good amount of fortune and you want a fair portion of it to spend it in philanthropic work, then you need to do estate planning with an expert estate planning attorney.
Besides being a noble work, philanthropy can sometimes be a complicated matter too. You have to make sure that everything runs properly after you are gone.
9. It is your own need
People often think that estate planning is something that has importance after their death. But this is not true at all. It protects you and your wealth too. It helps you to adopt the best plan. You can easily decide what pension plan you should take and when you need health care insurance etc.
10. Better for mental peace
Wealth does not always mean happiness. Having a lot of wealth could be a matter of tension. The main reason to worry about what will happen to this beloved wealth after your death. You know what happens to your assets after your death. It can give you some relaxation.
The importance of estate planning is too much to describe in a post. It may seem complicated to you. But an expert estate planning lawyer can make everything smooth for you.
Want some great tips about estate planning? You can read our top 7 estate planning tips.
