What is The Complexity of Your Estate Planning?

Estate planning can be simple or it can be sophisticated.  Complexity may arise because of the size of your net worth, but that doesn’t always have to be the reason.  Blended families, children or grandchildren with special needs that you wish to financially address, or beneficiaries who you wish to have a defined structure in receiving an inheritance can be reasons to hire an attorney to draft estate planning documents such as trusts, to make the transfer of your assets a smooth process upon your passing from this life. 

Trust documents can do wonders where the limitations of beneficiary forms are exceeded. That is the question to ask: are the beneficiary forms sufficient, or do you have personal needs beyond what they can provide?  After all, the custodian of your money or the life insurance company will follow the instructions you’d specified on their company’s beneficiary forms, signed off by you.   If you have accounts or policies where primary and contingent beneficiaries can be named, it is the simplest and most direct way to transfer those assets upon your passing.  Checks can be simply cut, or accounts transferred to the named beneficiaries upon proof of the account owner’s passing.  Per stirpes or per capita instructions may be added so that if a beneficiary predeceases the account owner, the deceased beneficiaries share can either pass on to their children, which is per stirpes, or be divided among the other surviving beneficiaries, which is the per capita instruction.  If your wishes are completely satisfied with the beneficiary instructions on the account forms, it is likely that nothing more needs to be done.  You may check in to how real estate may transfer with options such as a Transfer on Death Deed, depending upon the state that your property is located. 

We are often asked whether wills and trusts are needed. The answer depends upon the complexity of your estate planning. 

LouAnn Schulfer of Schulfer & Associates, LLC Wealth Management can be reached at (715) 343-9600 or louann.schulfer@lpl.com TheWealthInformationLady.com  SchulferAndAssociates.com , or louann.biz\

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

This information is not intended to be a substitute for individualized legal advice.  Please consult your legal advisor regarding your specific situation.

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