Most people think of Estate Planning as just deciding who gets what when. But, planning is much more than just deciding who gets what.
Wikipedia defines it like this
Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person’s life, for the management and disposal of that person’s estate during the person’s life and at and after death, while minimizing gift, estate, generation skipping transfer, and income tax.
That is only partially right. It is also about protecting you during your lifetime.
Planning is as much about protecting your rights, your family, and your assets during your lifetime as it is about making final gifts.
Estate planning is about protecting your fundamental rights. Your right to make your legal, financial, personal, and healthcare decisions your way.
Planning today is deciding now what will happen tomorrow. You may not be able to predict tomorrow’s circumstances, but you can choose now who will be there for you and how your decisions will be made.
An estate plan is about protecting your dignity and your right to make choices. It is also about deciding who gets what and when instead of letting the state make those choices.
If you do not make your complete estate plan, you are putting yourself in a position where your basic, fundamental liberties you now enjoy can be taken away by complete strangers. Those strangers will ultimately have control of your choices, decisions, rights, and assets.
Estate Plans reduce risk by making decisions now while you are clear headed and rational instead of later under stress and in a reactive mode. You decide now who will be there for you to manage your financial, legal, and personal affairs instead of letting the Government decide for you. The Government may appoint somebody that you don’t even know to manage your life for you.
The post What is an Estate Plan and How Does It Reduce Risk? appeared first on DeWitt Law Firm, PLLC.
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