In order to make all the decisions about transferring the estate to other family members after the owner or head of the family dies, people prepare legal documents on which they enlist the names of people who they want to give a part of their estate and that document is called an estate plan.
Brief Description of Estate Planning:
There is something very interesting that most people think only wealthy people have estates that they can declare to the world but in reality, everyone in the world has an estate although it can vary in size and face value it is a fact that everyone has an estate. You live in a farmhouse and you have a huge farm and that is your estate but if you live in a city in a small house and drive a small family car, don’t you have an estate? Yes, you do because your car, your house, your investments, your accounts, your personal possessions, and your life insurance is your estate. The common element in any kind of estate is that no matter how big or small it is, you can’t take it with you when you are deceased.
When that happens (your death), you know that you can’t control the ownership or transfer of any of your estate but it will be the court that will decide who will get what in your estate. So isn’t it better if you decide all of that in your life and enlist the names of people or organizations that you trust the most and want to have a part of your estate? This way you don’t need to look down from heaven and regret that you should have given your company to your other son and your classic corvette to your younger daughter. Rather than regretting your decisions up from heaven, it is better to prepare an estate plan for your wealth and belongings. This way you can give anything to anyone of your family member or friend and there won’t be any dispute about the distribution of your estate after you die.
A Good Estate Plan should include these Elements:
- There should be two parts or sections of your estate plan; one that includes the passing of your wealth and the other that includes the passing of your family values to upcoming generations.
- The estate plan must include instructions about your care and look after if you are disabled before death.
- You are not supposed to take any sides in the estate plan and all of your children should get an equal amount of your estate but if you like to give more to a particular child, it’s up to you and no one can challenge or change your decision.
- If you think, a particular family member has more abilities to run the family business, you can nominate him as your substitute once you are dead.
- Another important thing is that you need to update the estate plan on a periodic basis and it’s not a one-time thing but an ongoing process.
Free Estate Plan Template:
Below is the preview of our Estate Plan Template created using MS Word.
Here is the download button for this Estate Plan Template.
