You may be debating whether or not it’s time to start estate planning. People often think of this as something that they need to do eventually, but they’re not sure if they need it now.
The truth is that estate planning is beneficial in a lot of ways, regardless of your age or where you are in life. Here are a few reasons why you want to make sure that you get that plan in place.
You can reduce estate disputes
The first reason to have an estate plan is that disputes between your heirs are less likely if they have guidance from you. Many estate disputes happen when the heirs simply don’t know what their parents would’ve wanted, and none of them can agree. Creating an estate plan makes it very clear what goals you have. Even if your beneficiaries don’t like your decisions, they at least know that they are your decisions.
You can make medical decisions
Another reason to create an estate plan is that you can make your medical decisions in advance. You could use a medical power of attorney to choose an agent who can make those decisions in case you become incapacitated. You could also list out different things, such as care that you would like to receive or different treatments that you would like to avoid.
You can plan for your children
Parents who are doing their estate planning will want to use the documents to choose a guardian for their children. You may even want to choose a backup guardian in case something happens to the first choice. This way, you know that your children will always have someone to love them, care for them and raise them, even if something happens to you.
More than money
As you can see from these examples, estate planning goes far beyond money and distributing assets to different individuals. You can use numerous estate planning tools to create a positive future for your family. Be sure that you know about all of the steps you will need to take to do so.
