Saturday, July 24, 2010

It's For Those You Leave Behind

It’s For Those We Leave Behind

People spend considerable time planning for their retirement, but many neglect one of the most important aspects of personal and family planning – estate planning.

Everyone should have a legally accurate and complete plan for the administration of their estate after they die. Remember, you do this for those you leave behind, not for yourself. They are the ones who will bear the burden. You can lighten that burden if you take advantage of the opportunities that are available in estate planning.

It’s your obligation to protect your family members, to save them the headaches and legal problems after you’re gone. Many of you know people who have suffered through such trying times while mourning the loss of a loved one at the same time.

I do this all the time, so I don’t think of it as difficult. But it would be difficult for my wife. I did my planning to protect her not for me.

I’m a family person. I’ve got eight children and a handful of grandchildren. I’ve been focusing my practice for the last 15 years in the areas of estate planning and estate administration. I’ve been practicing law for 30 years. I’m here to listen to you and help you make the very best personal decisions for you and your family.

When someone dies without having a legal representative for their estate, no one can access the deceased person’s assets. They’re all frozen. You can’t get to their bank account. You can’t do anything with their real estate. Everything’s frozen until somebody has authority to act. And even if that person has a will, you don’t get that authority until a judge grants it to you.

If you and your wife have a joint back account and you die, your wife probably still will have access to it. But if there are assets that are not joint, she’s locked out.

If you get the proper legal assistance to make sure your estate is administered correctly, you will avoid the kind of horror story I deal with often in my business.