Wills and Estate Planning 101

By Cindy R.

No matter how much money you have it is important to have a basic estate plan to protect your family and your assets after your death. An estate plan can be as simple as a last will and testament to extremely detailed to contain a power of attorney, a living will and even a trust. We'll cover each of these tools in order.

Last will and testament - This is the most basic, and often the most important, element of an estate plan. You last will states your intentions regarding your property upon your death. As fundamental as a will is to your plan they are not necessarily easy to get right. If you try and write your own will and make a significant mistake your will make be disqualified and your estate will be distributed as if you didn't have a will at all. While probate laws in each state are written to handle this process in a reasonable manner, the state rules could run exactly counter to your personal wishes. Hiring a professional to help draft your last will is a wise investment.

Next in the process comes the durable power of attorney. A power of attorney allows another person to make decisions on your behalf and a durable power of attorney is a special kind that allows the decisions making authority to continue if you become incapacitates and unable to make decisions for yourself. This is particularly helpful when it comes to making medical decisions and there are specific versions call a health care power of attorney for this purpose.

A living will goes hand in hand with a medical power of attorney. A living will states your intentions regarding health care if you are not capable in do so for yourself due to a future incapacity. The living will states WHAT you want done in specific situations and the health care power of attorney authorizes somebody to follow through on your wishes. These two documents are complicated enough that most are crafted by professional estate attorneys.

Trusts are another mechanism that will allow you to disperse your property while placing restrictions or requirements on the property. Trusts aren't just for the wealthy. If you have dependent children that you with to leave money to, you can have it held in trust until they reach an age of your choosing. Trusts can also be an effective means to minimize taxes associated with your estate.

Lastly we are going to cover some of the tools that are available to help manage your tax burden upon your death. Life insurance is one of the primary methods to manage taxes at time of death. There are also a large variety of trusts that are effective as well. Estate planning for tax consequences is one of the more complicated aspects of estate planning and a professional can help you craft an appropriate plan.

Now that you a familiar with some of the estate planning tools available, it is time to start your estate planning process. Step number one is to list out all of your assets whether held just by you or jointly with your spouse. With that list in hand go through every item and choose who should receive each item upon your death. You should also note and items or recipients that you would like to place restrictions or requirements upon. Now it is time to decide if you are going to try and create your estate plan on your own or with the help of a professional.

There are also other instruments available for estate planning but the important thing is to work with professionals to craft a plan that meets your specific needs and desires. - 23208

About the Author:

Cindy writes articles about estate planning topics like Texas Living Wills and how to Write A Will at TexasWills.com.