As you get closer to the end of your life, you’ll likely begin to consider what will happen to your family after you’re gone. One of the best ways to ensure that they’re taken care of is to leave behind a will and testament that divides up your assets among them.
Read on to learn what to decide when meeting with an estate planning lawyer.
What You Want Your Legacy to Be
The first decision you need to make when meeting with an estate planning lawyer is what you want your legacy to be. Your legacy is what you leave behind after you pass away, and how that will impact the lives of the people around you. When you’re planning your estate, you have the opportunity to decide what your legacy will be. This is done by deciding how you divide up your assets.
First, you may decide todonate a sum of money to a charity that you care about. This legacy can help people in difficult situations across the world. You can also choose if you want to help individuals in your family by giving them money for college or another important investment.
How to Pass on Assets
Another important decision to make when you meet with an estate planning lawyer is how you’re going to pass on your assets. Once you’ve passed on, your assets will need to be passed on to your loved ones. The way you do this can differ greatly, so it’s important to know how you want these assets to be distributed. You can transfer an asset to an heir directly, put it in a trust, or find another way altogether to pass along the asset.
If you don’t set up a trust or a transfer-on-death deed, your home will go through probate. The probate process is long and complicated and brings an added burden to your family during their time of grieving. Setting up the distribution process keeps things running more smoothly.
Who to Trust as an Executor
After you do pass away, one of your close family members will be named executor of the estate, and will be in charge of initiating the distribution of your assets. This individual will work with the courts to ensure that everything goes according to plan. If you take the time to meet with an estate planning lawyer, you candecide who this individual will be, and know that someone you trust is handling your assets after your death. This can be reassuring in your last days, knowing that your assets and your family are being properly taken care of.
Meeting with an estate planning lawyer is an important part of end-of-life planning. This ensures that your family is taken care of after you’re gone, and that you’re able to have your assets properly distributed. These are a few of the decisions you’ll need to make with an estate planning lawyer.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Here’s more to read. THE BIGGEST MISTAKES RETIREES MAKE WITH THEIR ESTATE PLAN
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