Having an estate plan can ensure that fiduciaries are identified to oversee and distribute your assets in the way you would have wanted. As a business owner, your ownership assets in your estate may require a more sophisticated level of planning.
Financial planning is an important part of life. Estate planning is one key aspect of planning for the future. It can feel daunting to take on the task, but once it’s done and your future is organized, it usually feels a lot better.
Estate planning is not just about saving taxes, it is also about managing and protecting your assets against future creditors, both for you and for your beneficiaries.
One wrong decision can lead to expensive consequences, and good luck trying to persuade the IRS to give you a do-over.
During the past four months, more than 141,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the pandemic has prompted some people to get serious about creating or updating their estate plans, according to Christine Benz, Morningstar’s director of personal finance.
One in four American adults live with a disability, according to the Center for Disease Control. One in 10 adults over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s or dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Some marriages end in noise and pain. Other marriages drift away quietly with the signing of documents and only a hint of acrimony.
Sometimes beneficiaries end up not receiving their assets. Beneficiaries often lose out because the estate planning wasn’t done properly, but sometimes another family member contests the decedent’s will.
If you have updated your estate plan during the Covid crisis and even found a way to sign your documents while maintaining social distance, do not overlook the last step of trust funding.
We found that Covid-19 had a significant impact on Americans’ sense of personal readiness, with 65% saying that coronavirus made them realize the importance of sharing important information with family. Around the same amount of people (64%) noted that planning for the future was more important than ever and half (50%) said the pandemic made them realize how unprepared they were for a serious emergency.
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