Top 10 Reasons Why You Need an Estate Plan
At Elder Advisors Law, LLC, we pride ourselves on helping clients and their families “protect generations.” For us, this means effective estate planning and asset protection that provides a roadmap for generations to come.
Our team hears from people all the time, whether it’s in our offices, at our workshops, or at our lunch and learn programs, that they don’t believe they personally need an estate plan. People make the mistake of thinking they are too young or that they don’t have the assets. In reality, every adult that has put time and effort into building a family and/or accumulating assets should make estate planning a priority.
Here are some of the top reasons you should get an estate plan together today.
Estate Planning Reason #1: Planning for Medicaid
If you go into a nursing home, who will pay for your cost of care? If you don’t have an effective estate plan, that answer will likely be you or your loved ones. An effective estate plan, however, means Medicaid could take care of the cost of your care later in life.
Estate Planning Reason #2: iPug Trust
What is iPug? It’s not an Apple product for your dog, but an asset protection plan that allows you to stay in control of your assets, benefit from your assets, and change beneficiaries as you need while still protecting yourself and your estate from creditors. Ask our team if you want to learn more.
Estate Planning Reason #3: Retain Control
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Benjamin Franklin said those words, and they apply aptly to the world of estate planning. You may be in control of your assets and finances today, but if you don’t have an estate plan in place and you become incapacitated or pass away, your control over what happens next disappears.
Estate Planning Reason #4: Nursing Home Peace of Mind
Are you or a family member entering a nursing home? It’s important to have a plan before this happens. This allows you and your family to have peace of mind over what happens with finances, assets, and healthcare decisions appropriate to the situation.
Estate Planning Reason #5: Better Sleep
Speaking of peace of mind, you can legitimately plan on sleeping better when you have a complete estate plan. The stress of not knowing what the future holds becomes that much less burdensome when you have a plan.
Estate Planning Reason #6: End the Morbid Scavenger Hunt
Estate planning’s biggest relevance to most people is what happens when a loved one dies. We can’t plan our time to go, but we can plan what happens to our legacy through estate planning. Don’t send your loved ones on a morbid scavenger hunt for your assets, accounts, and best wishes.
Estate Planning Reason #7: Modern Legal Documentation
You might think you don’t have the time or money to sit down and talk to an estate planning attorney. Fear no more. Our Guide page is designed to help people who have simple estate planning needs and want to get it all done right online.
Estate Planning Reason #8: A Love Letter to Your Children
An estate plan provides a guideline for how your children will receive and benefit from your hard work. Did you build a legacy to be left behind for generations to come? Take care of that legacy and your children.
Estate Planning Reason #9: Trusts and Trust
The word “trust” has multiple meanings in estate planning. You can put your assets in a trust to designate how and when those assets will be distributed, but you can also designate who will execute your wishes. Make sure you have someone you trust in charge of your estate.
Estate Planning Reason #10: Give Even After You’re Gone
Finally, another fantastic reason to establish an estate plan today is to continue giving to causes you care about even after you are gone. You may be making donations today, and you can have money put into a trust to be distributed to causes you care about years after you are gone.
At Elder Advisors Law, we are frequently educating our clients about the many wonders of estate planning through our popular workshops. Sign up for a workshop today before they fill up to learn more about important asset protection and estate planning and contact our offices when you are ready to get your plan in place.
