Seven steps to basic estate planning · 1.Consider your family's needs · 3. Retirement plans, such as workplace 401 (k) plans and individual retirement accounts. Estate planning is a process that involves counseling professional counselors who are familiar with your goals and concerns, your assets and property, and your family structure. It can include the services of a variety of professionals, including your lawyer, accountant, financial planner, life insurance advisor, banker, and broker.
These concerns prompted the Real Estate Trust Section of the United States Bar Association (the “Section”) to appoint this Working Group to evaluate the use of DIY methods in estate planning. The Working Group has considered a number of issues, including the reasons why DIY options may be inadequate or incomplete for many people. The Working Group is reviewing much of the comments on DIY estate planning and will publish a more detailed report in the future. This preliminary comment identifies some of the many concerns identified by the Working Group.
The Working Group looks forward to further studying the role of DIY estate planning. While he has identified a number of problems, he recognizes that some people, mainly motivated by cost issues, will make their own wills. The working group anticipates that, in certain situations involving the alienation of modest assets between close family members, the DIY plan can work effectively. However, the Working Group perceives many other situations in which a person may have a false sense of security that they have addressed the disposition of their estate, only to discover (after death) that important issues were not addressed.
This could lead to greater difficulties and expenses in the administration of the estate, with the prospect of a dispute between the intended objectives of the provisions of the deceased. For those reasons, the Working Group concludes, at least in a preliminary review, that the average person should proceed with caution when using DIY estate planning as a substitute for an appropriate, professionally drafted plan. Estate planning is a process that helps you make many important decisions that you may face in your life. If you don't decide these things ahead of time, a New York court can decide them for you in accordance with the Estates, Powers and Trusts Act (EPTL).
These laws control what happens if you become incapacitated without an estate plan or die without a will, which may not match what you would have chosen for yourself. If you plan ahead and make your wishes clear following New York procedures, your wishes must be fulfilled. A full estate plan will have documents that cover the decisions listed below. In reality, most plans have a basic document structure that provides a roadmap for your loved ones when it comes to their finances, their care and the disposal of their assets in the event of death.
If you are referred to a qualified and evaluated estate planning attorney, your initial consultation will be free. As some lawyers have pointed out, perhaps the greatest danger of preparing the estate plan with LegalZoom or other legal DIY providers is that they mislead clients with a false sense of security. An experienced Brooklyn estate planning lawyer can advise you or a loved one on what documents are needed to legally protect your assets in New York. For these reasons, the Working Group is developing resources for those who are considering their estate planning options.
An estate plan is a collection of documents and includes a will, guardianship designations, health care powers of attorney, beneficiary designations, permanent powers of attorney, and a personal letter of intent, describing your wishes, should you die or become incapacitated. Whether you should hire a lawyer or a wealth tax professional to help you create your estate plan generally depends on your situation. In addition, there are several related issues that will need to be discussed as you develop your estate plan, including the form of ownership, lifetime donations, and beneficiary designations for pensions, IRAs, life insurance policies and other such assets. A complete estate plan includes a specific plan to provide you with the treatment you would want when you can't make or communicate decisions, no matter what age you are.
If you assign a health care proxy to your estate plan, make sure they are aware of your responsibility. Trusts are useful for estate planning because they can help keep your assets out of probate, which can be a slow and expensive process. . .
