Estate Planning is the efficient way to allow for administration of your financial and personal assets you die or if you become mentally or physically incapacitated. In Wisconsin, there are several options to establish a written set of directions to your friends and family showing them how your property is to be distributed after your demise. If you fail to put together at least a simple legal document, the administration of your estate will likely cost thousands and may have very unintended consequences.

Being an experienced estate attorney in Wisconsin, I often see a lot of problems arriving after the demise of individuals. While there are many reasons why individuals must create an estate plan, I included the best five below:

Avoiding Probate

Avoiding the significant expense and delay of probate is a very common reason individuals search out the guidance of an estate planning attorney. While most people have never even dealt with probate, they realize it involves attorneys and the court system and would rather their loved ones are able to avoid this delay and expense.

This fear of probate originates from probate horror stories covered by the media or told by friends, neighbours or business partners. For most individuals, eliminating probate is a justifiable reason for creating an estate plan and can be simply achieved through several different options in Wisconsin.

Securing Beneficiaries

There are mainly two common reasons individuals set up an estate plan with specific end goals:  (a) Protect minor beneficiaries and (b) Protecting adult beneficiaries from outside impacts, lawsuits, bad spending decisions, creditor issues and divorcing spouses.

In the event that the beneficiary is a minor, every one of the 50 states have laws that require a guardian to be selected to regulate the minor’s needs and funds until the minor turns into a legal grown-up (at age 18 or 21, depending on the rules of the place where the minor lives).

You can stay away from family discord and expensive legal costs by designating a trustee or guardian for your minor beneficiaries. Or on the other hand, if the beneficiary is as of now a grown-up but is bad at taking major decisions or has a spouse/ life partner that could divorce/separate them or is now or may in the future face a lawsuit or creditor(s), you can protect your loved one’s inheritance for them and shut out outside parties.

Lessening Estate/Income/Estate Taxes

The critical loss of one’s estate to the federal estate taxes or state legacy taxes is an incredible motivator for many individuals to create an estate plan. With the essential estate planning, people can lessen or even eliminate income, capital gain and estate taxes completely. If you have an IRA or 401k, a properly drafted IRA/401k trust can reap enormous financial benefits on spouse/children/grandchildren while protecting these investments from outside parties/divorcing spouses and government forced withdrawals to satisfy required minimum distributions (RMDs).

Avoiding a Mess

Numerous customers look for the guidance of an estate planning attorney after specifically encountering, or seeing a dear companion or business associate experience, a huge waste of time and money because of a friend or family member’s inability to create an estate plan.

Selecting somebody to be in charge in case you turn out to be physically or mentally incapacitated and after you die and choosing who will get what, and how they will get it after you’re gone will go far towards staying away from family battles and expensive court procedures.

Protecting Assets from Fake Creditors

Of late, resource protection planning has turned into an essential reason behind why numerous individuals, including the individuals who as of now have an estate plan, are meeting with their estate planning lawyer.

When you know or even simply suspect that a lawsuit is about to come, it’s usually too late to set up a plan to protect your assets. For the best results, you should start with a sound financial plan and couple that with a thorough estate plan that will protect your assets for you (during your lifetime) and your beneficiaries after your demise.

The only way to make sure that your assets are protected for you during your lifetime and go to the beneficiaries that you select is to make a valid estate plan before you become incapacitated, go in a nursing home or assisted living facility or die. If you want to discuss your options and create a sound financial and legal plan, contact our team at 262 812-6262.

Summary

Article Name

Why Is it Necessary to Create an Estate Plan

Description

Estate Planning is the efficient way to allow for administration of your financial and personal assets you die or if you become mentally or physically incapacitated.

Author

W. Ryan Zenk

Publisher Name

Elder Law Center of Wisconsin

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