If you could get a timeline of your life, maybe living won’t be as scary and unpredictable as it is for most people. Things like knowing when you’ll achieve your dreams or when you’ll bid farewell to this world may save you from the endless pit of overthinking regarding your future.
Death is the most uncertain and most feared aspect of human life. But unfortunately, solutions like getting to know the exact date when you will die are mere objects of human illusion.
While all the glory, respect, and success you may have earned in your life are buried with you, the tangible assets you have acquired in your lifetime still exist. But once you die, who gets ownership of the house you built from your hard-earned money or the company you invested your blood, sweat, and tears into to reach soaring heights?
This is where estate planning comes into the picture. You may not fear death, but the precariousness accompanying it is enough to alarm anyone. You would definitely not want the fruits of your ambitious labor to be taken up by someone unworthy of it. To prevent such an inapt event, you can decide who gets to inherit what through estate planning.
Be in control of what happens after you die by hopping on the estate planning bandwagon as soon as possible. Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Below you will find everything there is to know about estate planning and the peace of mind it offers, depending on how early you start your estate plan.
Why Do You Need An Estate Plan?
Apart from ensuring that your invaluable possessions don’t end up in the wrong hands, estate planning also has many other benefits. Stay tuned to find out why estate planning is so important.
It’s An Umbrella For Young Children
You start worrying more about life when you’re blessed with children. No parent thinks they’d die with their children still young. This is precisely why estate planning is so imperative. Although you would hope to see your children get the best of what the world has to offer them, there is no guarantee that you will live until then. But if you pass away with your children yet to bloom and take control of their lives, what happens then?
It becomes a matter of the court to decide who the children will be sent to after their parents die. Not only do these matters get uglier when taken up by the court, but they also leave a mark of gloom over the children in question.
With the help of estate planning, you can decide who gets custody of your children if anything were to happen to you and your spouse. By assigning someone who would care for your children after your death, you’re protecting them from being sucked by the negativity that spirals through the world.
Avoid Conflicts
It is important to clarify who gets what part of your wealth to avoid an ugly battle of inheritance. Our history stands behind us as prime examples of how families see ruin once they get into inheritance conflicts. The good ones are left behind in this powerplay of who gets more or sometimes even encounters bloodshed.
Decide who inherits your cars, house, shares, bonds, etc., before you die to put an end to family crashing conflicts that could arise otherwise. Form your wills and trusts and assign your wealth to your family members on your own accord. Thus, even if you die, no one can question your judgment, and you will have to accept the roles assigned to them.
Safeguard Your Wealth
Questions about how you’ve accumulated the amount of wealth you have will always be targeted at you, even if you’ve taken all the ethical steps in your career. This can be in the form of lawsuits, accusations, and other legal challenges that could pose a threat to your life’s labor.
Through wills and trusts, you can remove your name from the wealth and assets you’ve acquired and thus preserve them from challenges or the public eye. Hence, your money remains yours as long as you’re alive, but under legal banners belongs to whoever you want to inherit it after you die.
Benefits Of Estate Planning When You’re Young
There is no ideal age for an estate lawyer to start your estate planning process. But the earlier you start, the better. There really is no assurance that you’ll be able to get up tomorrow when you go to bed today. With your life hanging by a loose thread that can snap into two in the blink of an eye, securing your life’s hard work is integral. Here are a few benefits of devising your estate plan at an early age that is sure to convince you.
Gives Ample Planning Time
Starting your estate plan when you’re young gives ample planning time to finalize some of the most essential matters of your life. The most significant disadvantage of carrying out your estate planning later in life or when you’re sick is that you may be rushed into making your decisions.
This may not always lead to the outcomes you have in mind. You may end up making poor decisions regarding your wealth, children, family finances, and more.
Thus, starting your estate plan from a young age can allow you to make corrections and edits in your plan as frequently as you like depending on the circumstances unfolding around you. You can cast away people when you see their true colors or make new additions to your will on matters of your beneficiaries, your children’s guardians, and the executors of your estate.
Ensures Your Immediate Family Is Provided For
Dying is never an option. It’s a price for living that can be demanded from you at any given time. Once that happens, you’ll be wiped off the face of the earth while your partner and children have to continue living without you. How would they be provided for? Do they have to resort to asking family members for money? Or will they have to sell valuable possessions to get by?
You can determine the answers to all those questions through family planning. The earlier you establish that, the more you can die without any regrets. Concoct an estate plan to ensure your family never has to endure financial hardships with or without you. Thus, even if you were to leave them tomorrow, you can sleep contently, knowing they would be provided for regardless.
Decides The Particulars
As a parent, there are innumerable responsibilities you have to cater to. These include but are not limited to sending your kids to college, getting them married, providing a roof for them and food in their bellies, and many more.
As a business owner, you have to ensure your business stays afloat and falls into the right hands after being passed on from yours. To be human is to be bombarded by a truckload of responsibilities that never seem to end. As long as you’re alive, these things are naturally seen too, but in case you die unexpectedly, what about these responsibilities then? What happens to the foundation you spent years strengthening, be it for your family or work?
You can decide the particulars of these responsibilities in your estate plan. From making preparations about sending your kids to college to composing a plan for your company’s future, the earlier you devise a plan for these responsibilities, the more at peace you can be.
Key Events In Your Life When You Should Consider Getting Or Updating Your Estate Plan
Estate planning can start even when you don’t have immense wealth. Apart from transferring wealth to your inheritors, estate planning is also about ensuring your family is provided for after your death and your diligently earned assets end up in the right hands.
Taking these aspects into consideration, here are a few events in your life when you should seriously consider estate planning or updating your existing one.
Marriage or Divorce
When you get married, you welcome an essential person into your life, someone whose security and well-being are your concern. Their presence also impacts the estate and how it will be divided when you are laid to rest. Driving up an estate plan after marriage becomes essential to ensure that your spouse is not left out when your estate is being divided between your family.
Similarly, updating your estate plan is also essential after a divorce if your spouse was a part of it when you were married. Someone who is no longer in your life does not need to get a share of your wealth after you die.
Children
The birth of your children marks a major point in your life. It is also the point when you must consider getting an estate plan if you previously didn’t have one. An estate plan not only makes certain that your children will face no financial hardships after you pass away but also caters to much more critical aspects of their lives.
Every matter, from fulfilling their educational requirements to making special plans in case they have certain disabilities, is covered in an estate plan. Although you may not be physically present to care for them, you can make sure they face no hurdles in their life until they are ready to take control of it.
Additionally, depending on your children’s interests and capabilities, you can divide your estate accordingly. Not only do your children get financial advantages this way, but they also inherit items that match their interests, ensuring their value isn’t compromised.
Buying a House
Buying a house is undoubtedly one of the biggest investments you can make. Not only that, but it’s also one of the most meaningful purchases of your life. Making adjustments about your house or other properties reflects who you would like them to go to in the event of your death.
Unlike any other purchases you make in your life, a house is the most valuable one. It only makes sense to have a plan for the single most important asset of your life. This ensures your financial security and makes it convenient for others to know who takes ownership of it once you pass away.
If you fail to make an estate plan for it, the court gets to settle the matters of ownership after you die. You certainly don’t want someone else making the decisions about who gets to live in or own your house after you leave them. In the worst-case scenario, your house may get stuck in probate. If this happens, it will be sold, and the proceeds will be divided between your family members.
An estate plan prevents these ghastly events from occurring and lets you be in control even after you die.
Make Preparations For Your Future With Jefferson Estate Planning Today!
When it comes to estate planning, unmatched professionalism and the experience to testify your estate planning attorney’s expertise are necessary components, among many others. But don’t worry. You won’t have to go far in your search for the best estate attorney in Temecula, Ca.
Jefferson Estate Planning is the estate planning service in Temecula, Ca, that you can rely on. They not only provide constructive advice to ensure your wills and trusts are adequately prepared but also provide the best strategies in the market tailored according to your needs. If you’re unaware of where to start your estate plan, getting in touch with Jefferson Estate Planning should be your first step. Learn more about their estate plans by clicking here or contact their famed estate planning attorneys at (951) 553-6832.
