Estate planning requires thoughtful consideration of multiple issues. As laws, regulations, and family dynamics change, an estate plan must change with it.
Working with a skilled estate planning attorney and maintaining the relationship with them over time can avoid most of the difficult issues with estate planning in Melville. Understanding how unintended consequences arise can help you think through potential problems and create a plan that will work smoothly for your family.
An estate plan must be dynamic and adaptable. Sometimes, people create a will and other documents and then put them out of their minds. When the person dies years later, the plan may no longer effectively accomplish their goals or meet their family’s needs.
A skilled attorney could create an estate plan based on your current goals and needs and adapt it to respond to future events. Personal changes like marriage, divorce, the birth or death of children, and a family member’s serious accident or disabling illness could all require changes to an estate plan.
Personal financial developments and changes in the law also impact estate planning. Ideally, you will speak with your Melville attorney annually to update your goals and ensure your estate plan meets them as tax efficiently as possible to avoid any potential issues.
Most people create an estate plan intending to make financial matters simpler for their family when they die. One of the trickier things to get right is how much cash to leave in the estate.
Many people hold checking and savings accounts jointly with their spouses or have a payable-on-death designation on their accounts. These steps ensure money goes directly to the co-owner or beneficiary upon death, which avoids probate and could relieve the financial hardship they might experience while the estate is being settled.
However, if there is not enough cash in the probate estate to pay your debts, the estate administrator might need to sell estate assets to cover them. This process can delay the closing of the Melville estate and create additional expenses and issues.
Life insurance policies, pensions, and retirement accounts require the owner to name a beneficiary. Many people put assets in trust to be passed to beneficiaries when they die. Designating beneficiaries on assets that might otherwise be part of the decedent’s probate estate is an effective estate planning tool.
However, failing to name a contingent beneficiary on a Melville estate plan can cause complications when it is time to distribute the asset. If a beneficiary predeceases the owner of the asset, it might not be clear who should receive it if there is no contingent beneficiary. Confusion also can arise if the owner did not name a contingent beneficiary and the primary beneficiary disclaims an asset for tax or other reasons.
A knowledgeable attorney will ensure you name contingent beneficiaries on all your assets that have beneficiaries. They will also review your beneficiary designations with you periodically to ensure that you still wish for the person you named to receive the asset.
A comprehensive estate plan generally has several components, and they must work together to accomplish your goals. Even one simple oversight can lead to unnecessary complications.
You can bypass many difficult estate planning issues in Melville by working with a skilled and experienced attorney. Whether you need to develop a plan from scratch or want to revisit or amend an existing plan, our team can help you assess your current goals and develop a means of accomplishing them. Schedule a consultation to get started today.
