Planning Your Estate
If you possess property or have any savings, you probably need an estate plan, or at the very least a will. Once you have children, it is especially important to create your will and possibly a trust, in order to ensure that their children are protected under any eventuality. If you do not plan your estate timely, your heirs may face extended and costly court battles to settle your estate, and part of your estate may go towards attorney fees instead of your heirs.
A will allows you to control who will take care of your minor children if anything happens to you. It lets you control how your estate is divided if anything happens to you and allows you to dictate what kind of care and services you receive if you are incapacitated.
In certain circumstances, it might be advisable to create a trust as well. It saves your descendants from having to deal with the long and costly process of probate and may save them taxes. If you have a large estate or a business, a trust is an essential part of your estate planning, to provide for how your assets will be managed, divided, and taxed, when you can no longer manage them yourself.
As part of your estate planning, you should also consider creating a power of attorney and an advance medical directive to spare your close ones the added stress of having to make difficult decisions if you become ill or incapacitated.
