Estate Planning for Every Phase of Your Life
It is a common misconception that estate planning is only for the elderly and involves only wills. It’s important to consider estate planning during different phases of your life, not just when you’re writing your will.
Besides planning a funeral, an estate plan can also help you plan for a variety of things in your life. A good estate plan can grow with you and you can make changes to it as needed, so you are never too young or too old to create one. An estate planning lawyer may be able to assist you in creating an estate plan.
Consider updating your estate plan during the following phases of your life.
During and After College
College may be more about grades or paying back your student loans than thinking about your estate when you are off to school. The first time you are on your own means you are an adult who should make plans for the future for the first time.
Getting durable powers of attorney for your finances and health is a great way to start an estate plan. If you are ever unable to make decisions for yourself, a durable power of attorney allows someone else to do so on your behalf. In the event that you become ill or are injured and are unable to communicate your wishes, this will be necessary.
Plan for both your health and your finances in your estate plan and name someone you trust to make your medical and financial decisions in your absence.
Before or Directly After Getting Married
An estate plan becomes more important when an individual marries or forms a partnership. As you will now have more assets to consider as part of your estate, you will want to add or update your power of attorney and possibly make a will.
Additionally, your spouse or partner should be added as a beneficiary to your estate. The first person will benefit from this because everything will be kept out of probate court. As most couples share most of their assets and likely have similar plans for how the estate should be divided when they die, many couples decide to make their estate plans together once they are married.
Starting a Family
Making sure your estate plan includes your children is essential once you have children. Make sure you include it in your estate plan if you plan to leave your estate to your children or only certain aspects of it. As part of your estate plan, you should also create a guardianship plan if you have children.
If you are ready to start estate planning give us a call at 402-467-5080 to learn more about your options. We are happy to assist you.
