Estate Planning
The following is for educational use only. This material is not intended to replace any tax, financial or legal advice. The reader should obtain personal counsel before implementing any methods described herein.
What Is Estate Planning?Why is it important?
Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging for the management and disposal of a person's estate during the person's life in preparation for a person's future incapacity or death.
This process enables you to look after your loved ones, manage healthcare and financial choices, dictate how your property is distributed after death, and reduce unnecessary costs and taxes. |
Key pointsEstate planning involves much more than just creating a will.
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what is probateIt is a legal process.
Probate is the court supervised legal process that gives someone the authority to handle an estate when a person passes away.
It can be a slow, costly, and extremely public process — since probate cases are a matter of public record. In addition, a probate judge may make decisions you would disagree with if you haven’t outlined them in your estate plan. Whether a person dies with or without a will without a properly funded trust: probate is the only way to transfer assets out of their name and pass those assets on. |
two reasons people go through PROBATELack of education and procrastination.
A National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) survey of people’s finances in 2021 revealed that “financial illiteracy” cost Americans an estimated $352 billion that year alone.
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problems with probateHere are just a few.
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why should i set up an estate plan?Here are a few reasons to consider?
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Avoid Probate Even if we have a will at the time of our passing, all of our assets and liabilities will need to be settled in probate court before they can be distributed to our families. Watch this short video to learn how your estate can easily avoid the delay and cost of probate for your family.
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“End of Life” Legal and Financial ConsiderationsIf you realize that a fatal accident or illness can end your life at any time, and you don't want to leave your family unprepared, watch this video to learn how important it is to provide instructions and make provisions for the “End of Life”.
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When someone dies with assets titled in his name alone, as happens when using a "stand-alone will" (only) to transfer assets at death, such deceased person becomes a decedent property owner. A decedent is obviously unable to transfer his property to anyone. Consequently, the primary purpose of probate then arises which is to transfer title of assets from a decedent to the decedent's heirs. This proxy retitling/transferring of assets – to the decedent’s personal representative who then conveys the retitled assets to the decedent’s heirs – requires a surrogate court procedure called probate.
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