As an accomplished Media Trust Lawyer, I get questions all the time from clients about what is estate planning. Well, when people think about estate planning I think they first think about property being disposed of during a last will and testament. Actually, it also should focus on disposition of property that’s not disposable under the will such as your life insurance, maybe your qualified plan, your IRA, and things of that nature. One thing we do when we’re doing estate planning for somebody is making sure all their assets are disposed of properly. This could also mean not only that the property gets to the right people, but also it gets to them in the right way.
Maybe it also means making sure that some people that you don’t want to get your property, don’t inherit your property. In addition to that, there’s also the aspect of what happens if you can’t handle your own affairs but you’re still alive. We call this living probate. That involves perhaps having a proper general power of attorney and also a medical power of attorney. When we’re talking about estate planning we’re really talking about a lot of things. One other thought on that too is that it also involves, of course, reducing the cost of dying. People think of the death taxes, but we also want to make sure the process runs smoothly so that there aren’t any costs because of family disagreements when we go to settle the estate.
If you have any questions about estate planning, please contact our Media Trust Lawyers for a free case evaluation.
This educational blog was brought to you by experienced Trust Attorney Edward L. Perkins. Our law firm proudly represents clients throughout Media, as well as Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.