Five Reasons to make an Estate Plan NOW
Every year, about half of Americans who die, do so without even a simple will.
Many more become mentally incapacitated
due to old age, illness or accidents – without a plan.
Here are Five Reasons not to Join them:
1. Your children may not go to the person you want to care for them. Your Will is where you designate a backup Guardian for your minor children, if their other parent is also deceased. No Will? A court will appoint a guardian, and it might not be who you would choose.
2. Your loved ones may not receive money or other property you wanted them to have. If you die without a Will, a judge follows a rigid formula for distributing assets to your relatives (or to the State if you have none).
3. Your children MAY receive money or other property you WOULDN’T have left them if you’d stopped to think about it. 18 is the legal age for inheritance. If you died today, would you want your children to get everything, with no rules for how that inheritance is to be managed or used
4. If you lose mental capacity due to accident, illness, or just plain old age, your loved ones will have to ask a Judge to allow them to make decisions for you. This will cost thousands of dollars.
5. No one will know how you wanted to be remembered, or to have your remains taken care of. They may agonize over this, or even fight about it.
Best Regards,
