Who Needs Estate Planning?

I always thought of estate planning as something you do when you are retired and planning for what happens to your assets after you die. I never thought of it as something that I should think about but really everyone should as soon as they have assets.

What do you need to get started with estate planning?

First, you will want to find a good lawyer, such as brownhobkirk.com. While yes you can find the paperwork online and file yourself, a good lawyer will make sure you are not missing anything and make sure everything is exactly how you want it.

After your find a lawyer, next up is collecting all the paperwork of your assets. I find lists are my friend as that way I don’t forget anything so it might be helpful to list everything and then check it off as you take care of it.

Next you decide what to do with everything which is where a good lawyer comes in at, they can provide you with legal advice so your dependents will be taken care of and not left in the dark on what your wishes were. Not only do you need to decide what assets to manage but also which heirs and other beneficiaries are getting what. This is important because you may want something to go to someone specific and don’t want anyone fighting over anything. It may seem again like something only the real wealthy people have to deal with but if you have more than one dependent or asset, it can get tricky.

While no one ever thinks they are going to die, we all will someday and being prepared will definitely save a lot of headaches. Our loved ones will have enough to worry about by grieving that assets should not be confusing.