At Solan, Park & Robello, we ardently believe in the importance of estate planning. We have seen first hand how negatively it impacts families when someone passes away without an estate plan, whether it’s because they didn’t work with a lawyer to make sure their wishes were stated in a legal valid way, or because they just didn’t plan for their eventual death at all. If you die without an estate plan, it can create major problems for your family and other loved ones, in expected and unexpected ways:
- They might not know what you would have wanted and it could cause arguments among them.
“Mom would have wanted me to have her ring. I just know it!”
“No! It was obvious she wanted me to have it!”
Don’t leave any room for doubt about your intentions. Arguments like these can escalate after a death because emotions are already running high. These kinds of disagreements can create rifts in families that last for years. With a well-drafted estate plan, you won’t leave any room for doubt about your intentions, which also means less room for arguments between those you love.
- Loved ones who aren’t related to you by blood (or are related by blood but more distantly) will not inherit anything from you.
Maybe you want to leave some of your assets to a family friend who you loved like your own child. Or maybe there’s something you want to leave to the young man you mentor at work. Maybe you want to leave everything to your partner, who has been by your side for many years but isn’t legally married to you. Without an estate plan, your estate will be distributed to your family in accordance with intestate law. Intestate law dictates that your estate will be split evenly among your closest living relatives. This can leave out people who are important to you!
- Your family will face the time-drain and costliness of a difficult probate process.
Probate, the process by which your estate is distributed (and during which it passes to your family through intestate law if you don’t have an estate plan), can take a long time and involves many expensive fees. Families often find the probate process very stressful. While simply having a will won’t allow you to dodge probate altogether (that takes more in-depth estate planning) it does make the process easier. If you’re ready to spare your loved ones these inconveniences by sitting down with an attorney to create an estate plan, the Solan, Park & Robello team is here for you. We can help you create a will, or utilize other estate planning tools to avoid probate, minimize estate taxes, ensure your wishes are respected and spare your family from doubt. If you’re ready to get started or have any questions, give us a call at (415) 777-3300.
Solan, Park & Robello
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