How many events or activities do you meticulously plan for? From vacations to buying a home or car, to what you are going to make for supper, there are certainly plenty of decisions in daily life to make. For some reason, while estate planning is one of the most necessary and critical actions to take in one’s life so many people avoid doing it or put little emphasis on its importance. After you pass on, your wealth and assets must go somewhere. Where you decide it should go is important because what you leave behind is everything you have worked your entire life to acquire. Your estate is part of your legacy.
Why Estate Planning is Important?
Planning for how you want your estate managed after your death is not the most pleasant conversation, but it is one that should be taken seriously and also should take place before you die or before you potentially become incapacitated. No matter how much wealth you leave behind, estate planning is necessary for many reasons.
- Estate planning protects those individuals you want to inherit your wealth from either not receiving it or from having to deal with prolonged and costly legal battles to obtain it. Your assets, for example, can be passed to your designated heirs. If you don’t make a plan regarding how you want your assets to be managed, should you become incapacitated or when you die, you won’t have control over where they go and who they go to. In the absence of an estate plan, it is the courts who most commonly get the authority to administer your assets. Going through the legal process with the courts for distribution of your assets can be a long, arduous process which can also be quite expensive.
- Estate planning protects your children. No day is guaranteed for anyone and with life’s unpredictability always present, it is very possible that you can die while still having young children. Estate planning can also include naming guardians you trust to care for your children should you and your spouse pass before your children are legal adults or 18 years-of-age. If you don’t have your children’s care detailed the way you want, the courts will decide who will take your children in and raise them.
- Estate planning protects your loved ones from having to deal with a tax burden. Inheritance taxes can be very costly. With careful organization, a comprehensive estate plan can reduce or eliminate taxes for your beneficiaries.
- Estate planning keeps the peace within families. When wealth comes into play, there are many situations where families go to war over what each member believes they deserve. If you have everything laid out according to your wishes it is harder for loved ones to argue over what they received.
Do You Need the Help of a California Estate Planning Attorney?
You don’t have to be an older adult to look at your assets and work with a qualified Los Angeles estate planning attorney to develop an outline of how you want your wealth to be managed. Taking the time to put a California estate plan together ensures that your life’s work is dealt with according to your wishes. It also protects the ones you love who you intend to inherit your assets.
The California estate planning attorneys, at Leiva Law, will provide you with the guidance you need to put together a complete and thorough plan that meets your requirements. Contact the California probate and will lawyers at Leiva Law at 818-519-4465 to schedule your free consultation today.
