It doesn’t matter what the size of your estate is when you leave it behind. Estate planning is a big deal, and everyone should have an estate plan set in place. Things can change in a moment, and unexpected things happen. It is especially important if you have family members who depend on you.
Why is estate planning such a big deal? Estate planning is here to protect you and your family in the event that you pass away. Your family is left behind and there are so many things for them to handle in your absence, the last thing that you, or they need to worry about is what happens with your assets. When you hire a knowledgeable estate planning attorney, they help you to ensure that your assets are taken care of properly by your family, or if you’re no longer able to make decisions about them due to being incapacitated, or upon your death.
When you don’t have proper estate planning in place, then your assets fall into the hands of the court. They will then assign someone, not a family member to decide what happens with your estate. To protect your assets, it’s imperative to hire an experienced estate planning attorney to set up your final wishes in a legal document to be distributed to your beneficiaries, as set forth in your final wishes.
Not only does this protect your assets, but as mentioned above, this saves your family from having to worry about this, and prevent arguing during a time of grieving.
It’s important to remember that estate plans do need updating from time to time to account for significant events in the family such as births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and even moves. They are an ever changing document, as your life, as well as your assets will change as life goes on.
At Wood, Seitl, & Anderson, estate planning is our area of expertise and has been one of our client focus areas for 70 years in the Sarasota, Venice, and Bradenton areas of Florida. Contact us today.
