Heat radiates from the flames spreading across the open field. The firemen rush to contain the fire. It has already consumed much of the landscape in its path. Despite gallons of water dropped on the flames, they continue to grow. The situation continues to go from bad to worse. Miles away a family sits watching the horror unfold on the evening news, a fire burning safely in their fire place. This fire provides warmth and a sense of security. The family watches as finally, the firemen contain the flames but it is too late; the damage done, most of the field is lost.

Those fires could be your assets in the future. If you have a $500,000 parcel of real estate in California and that is the only asset the total probate costs could exceed $26,000. If the equity in the property is only $100,000 the fees are still $26,000. Just like the field on fire, fees consume your assets. Eventually, everything works out, but with a huge portion lost to fees.

If that same estate is in a Revocable Living Trust then the fees to transfer the property to your heirs will be considerably less than $26,000. Therefore your heirs will receive a greater percentage of your estate because of your complete Estate Plan. This is the warm, safe fire, resting comfortably in the fire place. However, just like an incorrectly used fireplace can create danger, an Estate Plan prepared incorrectly may cause fighting among the children. This could lead to a substantial amount of the assets being consumed. It is not unusual for probate or trust litigation to consume 30%, 40%, 50%, or more of the assets of an Estate.

A solid Estate Plan created specifically with your family in mind is not only the fire in the fireplace. It is fire insurance in case something goes wrong.

Divorce is never thought about at the beginning of a marriage. However, situations arise that may lead your child to seek a divorce. If that happens you don’t want your child’s inheritance to end up with your son or daughter-in-law. With out the proper planning, that may happen. Without the correct documents prepared appropriately, the gifts you leave your child may end up with their spouse. Developing or designing an Estate Plan where it stays with your child and grandchildren is possible.

If a child’s marriage fails, you can protect that child’s inheritance. An Estate Plan allows you to prevent your child’s inheritance from becoming part of the marital property. As a result, this will prevent its loss in a marital settlement. Protected in an Estate Plan, your assets remain maintained by your child until they pass it along to their children. Not given to the ex-son or daughter-in-law in a divorce.

Creating an Estate Plan this way can ensure that valuable family heir looms stay in the family. Whether it has monetary value or sentimental value the gifts you leave your children will be invaluable to them.

I have a horrible sense of direction. I truly do. When I first learned how to drive I got lost almost every time I went someplace new. I would even look up directions to places only a few blocks away. Then I would print out those directions, and take them with me. I did this because I knew I was terrible at remembering directions. I had to really learn to pay attention. It took a while but eventually my sense of direction improved. I have learned how to identify major streets and follow patterns in different neighborhoods. I still get lost occasionally. However, now I have an easier time finding my way again. Just like how I needed directions for the road some people need directions for their lives.

A personalized Estate Plan can give guidance to the trustee. It can explain how you would like your assets distributed in particular situations. Children are often prone to frivolity. This could lead them to spend all the money you left them without much serious thought. With the guidance provided in an Estate Plan, the trustee can help your children grow and mature before they can choose that option. After all, you would not give a 16-year-old the keys to a powerful sports car the first day he received his driver’s license. Instead, you would spend time training that 16-year-old to help them learn how to manage the car. The same idea applies when giving your children their inheritance. Give them the Trust and Estate Plan to provide guidance and training for handling the resources you entrust to them.

You would never provide your children with a large check without knowing what they wanted it for just because they asked. Instead, you would inquire as to why they want the money and then help them handle the funds in a mature way. An Estate Plan can give that guidance. Not only at the immediate time of your passing, but for guidance in the future as well.

You look down and notice the little flashing light on your phone. Suddenly your focus has shifted from your task at hand to finding your charger so your phone doesn’t die. In many ways, you are the charger of your family. Yes, your children go out into the world and live their lives, but occasionally they come home. You provide them with a sense of comfort and infinite strength that is hard to find outside the home. Just as your charger gives your phone battery strength, you give your family strength. So what happens once you die? Who becomes the new charger, or who is in charge?

One of the biggest problems people fight over in settling an estate administration is who is going to be in charge. If you don’t make that decision before you die then your children may fight over who will be in charge or have resentment towards the siblings in charge. One possible solution is to name an independent third-party trustee or trust company to be in charge. This could be a viable option for many reasons. Some of those reasons include the cost, the fighting, the feeling that somebody is being taken advantage of, or the feeling that somebody is getting more than other children. When you do your plan you tell them what you want.

Remember you are the charger that powers your family and helps hold them together. You lose that strength after you die. I have seen too many situations where the family splinters. Creating an Estate Plan is a way to keep that charge solid.

The short answer: yes. I have changed so much throughout the years and I have watched those I love change as well. I haven’t just changed from being a child to a teenager to an adult. There have been moments of growth and change throughout my entire life. New experiences happen daily and help me to learn and grow. I make mistakes, especially when I don’t fully understand what is happening around me. Those mistakes have helped me become a better person. While change is not always pleasant, such as losing a loved one, it is a necessary part of life. And with the change of death, your children will have to deal with the legal ramifications of the situation.

Navigating the legal processes after you die can and will be difficult for your children. This is compounded by the very real sting of you not being there to guide them through their emotional distress. However, death is a great catalyst for change. This scenario is made easier or harder depending on how well you planned before your death. An Estate Plan is an excellent way to protect your children after you pass away. It can help guide your children towards a constructive distribution while steering them away from a family argument. You can design an Estate Plan that gives the trustee discretion in distribution to help guide your children. In this way, their challenges or imperfections will not cause them to lose their inheritance.

A detailed Estate Plan can help navigate the turbulent waters that inevitably come for everyone. Nothing can prevent death, but it is possible to help make the transition easier for those who are left behind.

One of the main reasons for Estate Planning, particularly if you have minor children, is to designate guardians. You have to decide who will care for your children if you both pass away. An Estate Plan allows you to do more than choosing who can provide for your children. It allows you to designate those you don’t want to have guardianship of your children.

Further, you can give the future instructions to potential guardians on how you want your children raised. When someone babysits your children you make sure to leave them specific instructions. You tell the babysitter when bedtime is, any potential allergies, and any other advice to help keep your children safe.  Similarly, an Estate Plan allows you to give detailed instructions to potential guardians. Your personalized Estate Plan can be a guide for possible guardians of your children. It can explain what is important to you when it comes to raising your children. Even after you are gone, your values can be taught to your children. By leaving instructions in your Estate Plan, help raise your children after you both pass away. Creating an Estate Plan allows you to dictate the values and character traits taught to your children.

Unfortunately, sometimes there is a falling out between someone you love and yourself. While never expected, never planned, and never an easy experience, these situations still arise. Rifts form between people and create problems leading to close friends or family drifting apart. When this happens, you probably want to disinherit the person who drifted away so that they don’t receive the same inheritance as those who stayed by your side.

Without an Estate Plan, you cannot plan for that sort of situation. Cutting themselves off, hurting you, stealing property, deceiving you, and absent for 30 or 40 years; without an Estate Plan, this leads to them receiving the same amount as the child who has always stayed close. While one child is close by and always assisting in caring for you, showing you love and respect, the other is off pretending you don’t exist. For both children to receive the same inheritance seems like an unfair reward for the one causing you pain. Without a complete Estate Plan, the black sheep child will receive the same as the good children.

 

Your legacy is not only the assets you leave behind to help your children financially. A legacy is the values you hold dear mattering to the ones you love because of you. Passing on words of wisdom and providing guidance to loved ones can help ease the sorrow of your death. A good estate plan provides this by including language explaining your values and words your children can remember you by.

Protecting both your assets and values can be accomplished with a good estate plan. It takes your assets and allows them to help your children, no matter what decisions they make. A well drafted Estate Plan will help and rebuild your children’s lives when disaster strikes. You can infuse your estate plan with descriptions of your assets. Then describe how to use the assets to assist your children during their lifetime.

After you are gone, the mixture of your wisdom and assets in the Estate Plan can provide help and security for your children. As parents, you want to protect your children. A good estate plan doesn’t just protect them financially, it also protects them emotionally.  It allows you to leave your legacy with personalization of wording and extending your values to your children.

A good Estate Plan provides that on the death of the first spouse the assets will divide into two trusts. The Trust protects the children so the assets are distributed to them, not to the second spouse. We want to protect our children in the event our spouse remarries and we want our spouse to remarry.

Even if they remarry, people want to protect their spouse. Protecting your spouse, if they remarry, is possible with the creation of an Estate Plan. An Estate Plan can designate dividing the Trust in two on the death of the first. Language inserted in the trust can protect the spouse, both emotionally and financially. In the event of their remarriage, it may require a prenuptial agreement. It also protects and makes sure those assets are available to assist the surviving spouse in the event of a financial meltdown or massive liability. This provides security after you are gone.

We all like to think our spouses are perfect. We like to think we are a perfect couple. However, we all know everyone is imperfect. Those imperfections are part of the reason we love our spouses. They can keep us grounded and remind us that everyone is human. However, those imperfections can lead to conflicts and problems. This is true during your life and after. Even with the best of intentions, your spouse might end up doing something you would not wish for.

An Estate Plan can provide solid assistance to the surviving spouse. In case some of their imperfections show up, your spouse will be prepared. This is also crucial in case somebody tries to take advantage of them. While we would like to believe that won’t happen, unfortunately, it does. A proper Estate Plan can protect them from themselves and from others.