Estate Planning is crucial in protecting you and your loved ones from destructive and costly battles over personal property, assets, and critical health decisions in the event of your incapacitation or death. In life, there are many unforeseen circumstances that one can prepare for by setting up an estate plan. Four main estate planning instruments that can safeguard your family's future harmony are the following:
- Living Trust: A legal, catch-all document created during your lifetime to ensure your designated beneficiaries will inherit your assets without the need of going through probate.
- Power-of-Attorney: Appoint someone to handle various matters for you, including but not limited to signing escrow documents and handling bank matters, in the event of your incapacitation or unavailability.
- Advanced Health Care Directives: States your desire in the most extreme medical scenarios; such as whether or not to prolong life or donate organs.
- Pour-Over Will: This serves as a big blanket to wrap up any assets you did not put in the trust; pour those assets back into your trust and distribute them to your designated beneficiaries.
While these are some available tools in planning your estate, you can take other more specific measures to suit your particular needs. The primary goal of estate planning is to ensure your loved ones do not have to go through the time-consuming and costly probate process during what can be a very difficult time of pain and grief. Without establishing your estate plan, your loved ones might have to go through probate court, where various claims may be made over your estate which often leads to arguments and costly attorneys fees.
If you or anyone you know needs help with estate planning, setting up a living trust, or any such related legal instruments, don't hesitate to contact Edward C. Ip & Associates, APC at (626) 228-0638 where our experienced attorneys will help you protect against your future today!
**The information provided on this post does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; rather, all information, content, and material on this post are for informational purposes only.**
