Planning your estate can be more complicated than most people realize, especially if you have a complex estate or a large number of assets. Being careful to avoid potential issues is critical to ensuring you and your family do not face serious trouble when it comes time to administer your estate. Here are seven common traps you should make sure to avoid when planning your estate:
- Putting off estate planning
- One of the biggest issues in estate law is that many people simply put off estate planning as long as possible, often thinking that they will get around to it eventually. Unfortunately, this leaves many people without any estate plan at all when the time comes, which can result in unintended family members inheriting your estate.
- Forgetting to include digital assets
- As time has gone on, digital assets have become increasingly important parts of a person’s assets, but often get omitted from estate plans. These digital assets include things like work files, digital artwork, or cryptocurrencies, and passwords to accounts, and must be addressed like any other asset.
- Failing to include advance directives
- Advance directives such as a power of attorney, healthcare proxy and living will are essential to ensuring you and your finances are handled if you become sick or too injured to care for yourself or your finances. However, if you forget these documents when planning your estate, you may have to go to court to seek a legal guardianship instead.
- Not making accommodations for dependents
- When planning your estate, you should always make sure any dependents are properly cared for if you become unable to care for them yourself. This includes any minor children, as well as elderly relatives and any loved ones with chronic disabilities.
- Failing to keep your estate plan up to date
- Your personal and financial affairs and your family dynamics may change over time, and your estate plan should change to reflect those changes. If you fail to keep your estate plan up to date, you or your loved ones may find yourself dealing with serious legal complications, such as your assets divided up in a way you no longer want.
- Losing track of estate planning documents
- You should always make sure any important estate planning documents are readily accessible, including your last will and testament, power of attorney, and other important documents. You should also keep copies of login information for bank accounts and other important websites so your loved ones can more readily access the information they need.
- Doing everything by yourself
- Estate law is complicated, and you should not try to handle planning your estate yourself. It is important that you speak with a lawyer experienced handling estate law matters, who can assist you with planning your estate.
If you or a loved one are dealing with legal issues related to estate planning, or you are dealing with any other issue related to elder law, you will need specialized legal advice. The attorneys at Hobson-Williams, P.C. are skilled in all aspects of elder law, and are dedicated to representing clients with diligence and compassion. To speak to an attorney or to schedule a consultation, call 866-825-1LAW.
