At different points of time in life, there come situations where one cannot avoid submitting to certain legal formalities. Whether it is a simple matter like buying a home or a car, giving someone near and dear a power of attorney to do things on your behalf or copyright protection for your creative assets, or complicated, protracted issues like divorce, guardianship or estate planning, you will always find yourself in a situation involving legal procedures sooner or later, and in certain cases, these situations are inevitable. Estate planning is something that many people pass up or take for granted, but it is an immensely important process that when done right with the help of the right attorney, can bring you a host of benefits.
There are many people who go through their lives, doing relatively well for themselves, but completely unaware of the fact that when they reach an advanced age, writing a will is one of the smartest things to do. For people who pass away intestate, or without a will, there are of course legal provisions that allows their assets to be passed on to their children eventually, but these legal provisions are complicated, take a lot of time to figure out, and can take out quite a chunk of these assets in terms of legal fees and taxes. Writing a will with an experienced attorney helping out can subvert a lot of these problems, and also has certain other palpable advantages.
So, what is a will? It is essentially a legal document which outlines the exact way you want your own assets to be divided and used after your death. Drafting a will is not a difficult process. All you need to do is have a rough plan of what you want to do with your estate, including your belongings and funds, and hire a will lawyer to go through your list of plans. The lawyer then helps you draft the will, which you can later vet and sign along with the signatures of witnesses. This simple process ensures that your assets are treated the way you want them to, brings you peace of mind, and gives you a chance to make sure that your important family members remain provided for after your passing.
Hiring an Attorney and Making a Living Will
Statistics indicate that over 60% of people in America do not have wills, and when you consider the critical age ground of 55 to 64 years, the ratio is still more than half. Technically, most attorneys advise writing a will once you reach 40 years of age, simply because it just does not leave a critical thing unfinished and saves you the trouble of going through everything and doing it once you are older. Hire a reputable estate planning attorney to oversee everything, and you should be fine. Let us take a look at a few of the important benefits of doing this.
Peace of Mind – Knowing that you have made the right arrangements for your estate, that it would ultimately go on to people that you want it to, and that your loved ones will be cared and provided for is something that can bring a lot of peace of mind. Your senior years should be peaceful and free of worries, and this is one way to just avoid a lot of usual worries and problems at that age if you just have a will ready.
Better Handling of Estate – With the right attorney, you can properly evaluate your estate and leave provisions in your will to ensure that it gets handled correctly. If your income has been sizeable and you have a large estate, making provisions to set up a trust and really help you avoid the protracted probate procedure while saving on taxes as well. You can also make provisions for bequests or gifts to people you want free of tax.
These factors warrant that you consider making a will well in time, as you get to have a much more peaceful time during your senior years knowing that your loved ones are going to be cared for and your estate handled with precision.