Estate Planning’s Biggest Mistake is Just Signing Documents
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How To Avoid Estate Planning’s Biggest Mistake-Just Signing Documents
Signing a will and living trust is not enough to protect you and your loved ones. You need an estate plan.
Just so you know, Estate Plans are more than a document. One of the biggest mistakes people make with estate planning is to assume that estate planning means getting a document. Whether it is a will, a revocable trust, living trust, or any other document, a document without a plan is unlikely to protect you or your loved ones. Signing the best will or revocable trust, without more, just doesn’t cross the finish line. Review the following suggestions to make the most of your estate plan.
Make a Plan-Ask Questions; Consider Options
There can be tremendous benefits to a revocable trust, but that alone is never sufficient. You need to consider: How are your assets owned? If not retitled to the living trust the trust may not accomplish its goals as intended. If bank accounts are owned in trust for or jointly with heirs, those assets will pass without regard to your legal documents. That could result in wealth passing differently than you intend.
Living trusts are a powerful tool to protect you as you age or if you face disability, but that requires funding now and other steps. Merely creating a legal document like a revocable trust alone won’t serve to reduce the risk of elder financial abuse. More is needed.
Who will you name as successor trustee and what powers will you give them? The best trust with the wrong trustee, or inappropriate powers given to the trustee, can undermine all you hope to accomplish. More than a mere document is required.
The takeaway from all these questions is that you need a holistic plan. If you start the estate planning process by asking an attorney “How much is a will?” you are not going to accomplish your goals. If you go to an estate planning website and purchase a form, any form, you won’t accomplish your goals. You need a plan!
- Consider the following questions and work with an estate planning lawyer to create a plan that addresses your goal and sets out to achieve them.
- Do you have religious, lifestyle, or other considerations that affect your planning?
- Does a beneficiary have addiction or mental health challenges that should be addressed?
- Do you have any health concerns that affect your plan now, or which in the future may?
- Are charitable objectives part of your planning?
- Do you have children or other heirs that have different financial needs?
- Do you face liability exposure that could dissipate your wealth?
- Do you have unique assets like a coin or art collection that require special considerations?
Remember that getting a will or a trust may be essential to your estate plan, but no legal document alone is an estate plan. While we all want to think that signing a document solves all your problems but that is unlikely to be the case. Getting good results for your estate, requires planning, commitment and follow-through. Contact us at (312) 578-9300 or info@madonia.com to get started.