Estate planning is a process in which a professional adviser, usually an estate planning attorney Carlsbad, works with you and your family to help organize your estate.
Here are a few areas estate planning covers:
Health Care
Beneficiaries
Donations
Funeral arrangements
Who will care for minor children
Transfer of property at death
As you can imagine, estate planning can be a very difficult, and often times, overwhelming process. There are a lot of very important decisions that must be made. And generally speaking, none of them are easy. You are literally determining who will get what once you pass.
With that being said, here are 5 things you must do when estate planning.
#1 – Consult With an Estate Planning Attorney Carlsbad
An experienced estate planning lawyer will be able to guide you and help create an estate plan that covers all of your needs. Speaking with a qualified legal professional will ensure both you and your family have peace of mind in the most difficult times. Fischer & Van Thiel, L.L.P is one of the best estate planning teams in the San Diego area. With over 50 years of experience combined, their legal team will be more than happy to help you with all of your estate planning needs.
#2 – Share Your Plans With Your Family
It is very important your family and anyone else who has an interest in your estate, know exactly what your plans are. It is also important you give them the opportunity to share their input.
#3 – Write a Will
A will is a legal document that transfers the ownership of your estate to the beneficiaries of your choosing. More importantly, if you have minor children, your will gives you the power to choose who will be the legal guardian of your minor children. You should also include your wishes as far as medical care goes. If something happens and you are unable to make medical decisions, who would you want to do that for you?
#4 – Get a Financial Power of Attorney
Power of attorney is a legal document that allows someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you are unable to. Power of attorney should be granted to someone you trust. Be sure to make your wishes known beforehand. You should also make sure your lawyer drafts the document to explicitly state power of attorney does not go into effect until and unless you are incapacitated and no longer able to make decisions for yourself.
#5 – Make Your Bank Account “payable on death”
To ensure your money is passed on to your beneficiaries of choice, make sure all of your bank accounts are “payable on death”. This is a legal document that tells the bank to transfer ownership of your bank account to your beneficiary upon your death.
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