Downs Law Firm, P.C.
Good estate planning must consider more than what you want to happen to your property and for your beneficiaries. It also must consider what you intentionally want to avoid happening.
Even those who have saved and invested well may not be sharing their financial information with a spouse or loved one. It’s time to do that now.
If you don’t have a spouse and children, you might not think you need to do any estate planning—but that’s not the case.
The death of a loved one results in an emotional grief that, when combined with large sums of money on the line, can cause the beneficiaries of the will or trust or the heirs of the deceased to challenge the validity, interpretation, or administration of the will or trust.
Your legacy is what you leave behind: What people will remember about you and receive from your life? Legacy planning is about fostering your relationships and passing on what is most important to you for your loved ones.
The list of things you need to do after someone dies can seem endless, especially during a time when you are also grieving.
One wrong decision can lead to expensive consequences, and good luck trying to persuade the IRS to give you a do-over.
When you open a financial account, you’re often asked to name a beneficiary. Simply stated, a beneficiary is someone who is entitled to the benefits of the account on the death of the account holder. For example, if you’ve purchased life insurance, you name a beneficiary who receives the benefits of the policy when you pass away.
Receiving an inheritance can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s overwhelming, thanks to the intense emotions associated with losing a loved one combined with the confusion about what to do with the newly acquired assets. On the other, an inheritance can re-invigorate your finances and create new opportunities for you and your family.
Unfortunately, credit card debts do not disappear when you die. Your estate, which includes everything you own–your car, home, bank accounts, investments, to name a few–settles your debts using these assets.
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