How to Take Care of Your Estate

Leaving an estate behind for your children can be a difficult and laborious task. Not only must you decide to whom your finances and assets will go, but you must also decide to whom they will not; of course, unless you decide to spread your belongings out to everybody, which for some is just not convenient, there will certainly be some unhappy family members. But, alas, this is not the only difficulty when it comes to taking care of your estate, and rather, you will have to spend hours and hours reading and signing paperwork, attending meetings with your attorney, and finalizing everything. Still, notwithstanding, it can be a very rewarding process knowing that after your death, your family name, and your legacy, will continue.

Write Your Last Will and Testament with your Attorney

The most fundamental part of completing your estate is your last will and testament; the last will and testament is a document that will dictate to whom your property goes and how your property and finances will be inherited after your death. This can be a very complicated subject, so read more here for a more simplified and condensed version. Your last will and testament will have to be officiated by an estate planning attorney and witnessed by a family member or a colleague of the aforesaid attorney; there are a few legal stipulations that go with your last will and testament, for example, the testator must be at least eighteen-years-old and of mental clarity at the time in which they compile the will; your attorney will listen to your personal wants and preferences and draft the will as per your instruction and will adhere strictly without deviation.

As per your last will and testament, you can appoint a sole individual to manage your property after your death; this person is called an executor. The executor will be responsible for diligently and fairly distributing your property as per your will and upholding any stipulations you may have included to avoid any misuse of your property, for example, a clause many people inherit along with family homes is that they can never sell their stately home and must ensure its constant upkeep. You can change your will at any time and an estate planning attorney will create an addendum to include your changes and omit or include anybody who was previously included or not included.

Appoint a Power of Attorney if Necessary

A power of attorney enables a single person who will thereby be known as an agent to act on your behalf and decide how your will is compiled; the act of appointing an agent is one that should not be taken lightly. By granting power of attorney you thereby surrender a lot of your rights to dictate how your property is issued and you grant them the ability to exercise all legal rights on your behalf and dictate how your finances are used. When granting power of attorney you can dictate how it goes into effect and when, whether it is as soon as you are no longer able to speak, or if you go into a vegetative state, or if you die.

Power of attorney can come in very handy if you are expecting your condition to worsen or you are going to be incapacitated. Power of attorney can mean your family is promised their share of your property and do not have to worry about being embroiled in any bitter legal disputes after your death as a result of what is deemed to be unfair management of your property.

Contact an Attorney

The best way to get your estate in order is to stop neglecting the process of contacting an attorney. An estate is a matter which must be handled delicately, but diligently, and as your days go on you risk dying without having ever compiled a will. If you were to die in this state, your goods would likely go up for auction and your family given no chance to get their hands on heirlooms or photobooks. You should always have your affairs in order at any age, especially in older age, and neglecting your estate is unfair to your family and theirs. They may rely on you for your leaving them an inheritance and by not doing so you may devastate them and seriously leave them wondering if you ever cared about their wellbeing to begin with. Compiling an estate can be complicated, so contact the legal professionals to sort it all out.

Make sure you only ever allow scrupulous and well-regarded estate attorneys to handle your estate, otherwise you risk allowing unscrupulous and untrustworthy attorneys in who may charge high fees and influence your estate.