January 11th, 2023 |
Three Things Most People Don’t Know about Estate Planning
By Attorney Alan L. Spiegel The Mclario Firm
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In a digital world where there is such an overwhelming amount of information available on any topic, it is no surprise that much of that information is false or misleading. Estate planning is no exception, with misguided and downright bad advice oozing out of every opening on the internet.In an effort to educate our neighbors, we offer the following three unknown truths about planning for your family’s future.1. Wills have to go through the probate processContrary to popular belief, a handwritten or even professionally-prepared will needs to be administered by the court system, which means its administration will be slow, expensive and public.2. Spouses don’t automatically get all of our property at deathMany people assume that their spouse will automatically inherit property from them in the event of their death. If property planning is not done, however, even a spouse will need to hassle with the probate process to get their late spouse’s property.3. Planning is cheaper than not planningA good estate planning attorney will leave you with more money to distribute as a result of their advice and preparation of documents. Savings on probate fees, taxes and litigation will easily offset whatever costs are incurred to prepare documents during our life.These three facts are just a sampling of the volume of information and clarification that you can receive from a qualified and experienced estate planner. If you haven’t formally discussed and prepared an estate plan, book an appointment to talk to a professional today. If you’ve done one but it’s been more than five years since it’s been reviewed, set up a time to bring it up to date sooner rather than later.
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