Have you ever wondered about the lives of your ancestors? Many of us have and it is not uncommon for people to spend considerable time and money trying to trace back their roots with varying degrees of success. When you are planning your estate you prepare to pass down things of monetary value to your loved ones, and there is no doubt that remembering your family in this way is very meaningful to them. But you and you alone have another valuable gift that you can choose to give to your loved ones and even the generations yet to come.
This gift is the story of your life, and passing it along can have immeasurable worth to your family in may different ways. Your early memories will paint a vivid picture of where the family came from culturally, ethically, and economically. When you recount stories about your grandmother and they are eventually read by your great-granddaughter, think about how fortifying that is to the fabric of your lineage. In addition, when you write about your personal experiences over the years they will invariably inform your family about the times within which you lived and your perspective on them as an objective participant. Historical accounts such as these are telling, authentic, and hard to come by.
These are great reasons to include your memoirs in your estate, but there is another that probably trumps those. You represent something different to each of your family members depending on your relationship to them. They may never have had a chance to see you as are you truly are in your own mind and your own heart. Your loved ones may find it impossible to imagine you as a child, or as a teenager. When you pass along your life story they get to see you in a more complete light, and opening in this way is as cathartic for you as it is meaningful to your loved ones. Now you have a way of passing on the values as well as the valuables.
While no one likes to think about a time when they're no longer around, we all secretly wonder the same things: Will my spouse have enough to live on when I'm not there? Will I be able to leave a legacy for my children? Will the family home stay in the family, or will it have to be sold to pay off creditors and taxes? This is why estate planning is important and necessary.
Estate planning is simply a way to protect your assets and your loved ones by creating legally valid documents that address a variety of concerns. Do you have a child that has special needs? Then a special needs trust might be the solution for you. This type of trust allows you to provide for a disabled or incapacitated dependent without affecting their eligibility for government-assistance programs. This trust can also be a component of a larger family trust, often called a Living Trust, that shields your assets from probate, minimizes taxes and even provides a way to give your heirs incentives for going to college, getting a job and similar personal growth accomplishments.
A good estate plan will also include a Powers of Attorney which are documents designed to designate someone to step in and speak on your behalf in financial and medical matters. In addition, you should have Advance Directives (a living will and health care power of attorney) that tells your healthcare providers how to handle life support and resuscitation matters.
In a nutshell, your estate plan is something you really can't do without and it's important that you have all of the key essentials. Hire an estate planning attorney! Anderson, Dorn & Rader, Ltd. has experienced estate planning lawyers that you can trust.
