Estate planning is critical if you possess assets that you want to pass on to your family after your death. When a person dies without leaving a will, issues such as; who will raise any minor children left behind or who will inherit your priory and other assets, are decided by the probate courts. This is not always a straight forward procedure, as all of your heirs will need to agree on a court appointed executor, and if some of your heirs are mentally challenged or underage, the resulting situation can become very complicated. If you factor in step-children, previous wives, or children from a previous marriage, the situation becomes a cauldron of turmoil and hostility. Convinced about the importance of estate planning?

If a person hasn't set aside rime for estate planning during their lifetime, there is a good chance that there will be complications with their estate upon their death or hospitalization. There are many possible scenarios that can be avoided with careful estate planning; one in particular is quite common. Say a man dies and is survived by his second wife. The children of his first marriage could very well end up with nothing if a will does not stipulate a specific inheritance for them. Although probate courts may place assets in trust to be distributed to them when they reach a certain age, that doesn't help them in the present when your first wife can no longer afford the lifestyle they've become accustomed to. This is an event that happens to often, and one that can be easily avoided by careful estate planning.

Save Your Loved Ones from Undue Stress by Thorough Estate Planning

If a married couple dies together and they did so without leaving a will, the state may need to "decide" which one died first. This is done to establish who the inheritors will be, and if one of the couple outlived the other by as little as a few minutes, the heirs of the spouse who died first may receive nothing at all. Without proper estate planning your assets may also get lost, or go undetected. This could prevent your loved ones from enjoying the benefits of your years of hard work, a terrible shame, and an unnecessary one.

Imagine after your death your family are rummaging through your things, gathering up paperwork, going through safety deposit boxes, stuffing everything in manila envelopes to be taken to an attorney because they have no idea what is important and what's not. This is an extremely stressful situation, I know from first hand experience, and this type of chaos can fray the threads of an already fragile family unit.

Estate planning is especially important if you have limited assets. That being the case, it is even more that you ensure your assets go to your family and those you wish, rather than to the tax man or a bunch of greedy, opportunistic lawyers. You will want to include personal items such as family heirlooms or silver or gold bars in your estate planning, as some of the most vicious family feuds have erupted over seemingly minor items.

Include Durable Powers of Attorney in your Estate Planning

One of the most important considerations of your estate planning should be to include Durable Powers of Attorney, at least one for property, and one for health. A Durable Power of Attorney for Property will ensure that someone capable is set to step in and take over your financial affairs should you become mentally incapacitated. Just because you're married, doesn't mean that the law allows for your spouse to automatically take over. If you haven't considered such an occurrence in your estate planning, your assets could be frozen while the court appoints someone of their choosing to look after your interests. This could prove to be a financial nightmare for your family.

Your estate planning considerations should also include a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. In the unfortunate instance that you must be placed on life support, if you haven't specified your wishes for such a situation legally, you could be kept alive while the medical bills for your care devour what's left of your assets, simply because no one can make the decision to shut off life support. It would be terribly unfair to place anybody in such a situation, especially one that could have been avoided by responsible estate planning.

Legal Service Providers and Estate Planning

Often we put off estate planning because it is unpleasant and tiresome.

It no longer needs to be, as with the advent of modern technology and the convenience of the internet, the bulk of your estate planning can be done online from the convenience and privacy of your own home. There are now legal service provider companies that offer a variety of plans in conjunction with law firms across the country. They contract with law firms to provide estate planning options to individuals much the same way that health insurance companies contract with physicians.

Basically a Will worksheet will be made available to you which you fill in and send on to your law firm. You will be returned a comprehensive will based on the information you provided that simply needs to be notarized and put in a safe place for keeping. Don't put off your estate planning. You never know what's around the next cornet in life, and as modern technology has helped to ease some of the cumbersomeness of estate planning, there's no reason to leave your family in position where they may be vulnerable to the callousness of probate.