When Something Happens to You, What Happens to Your Estate?

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Planning for the end of your life can feel stressful and overwhelming. But planning is key to retaining control, alleviating administrative headaches, and getting more of your assets to your family by way of avoiding unnecessary taxes, fees & expenses.

death and disability expense funnelThe Disability and Death Expense Funnel illustrates potential outflows of wealth from your estate if it must endure undue taxation, fees, and court costs. Your estate (i.e., retirement plans, personal property, real estate, life insurance, business interests, etc.) may be unnecessarily and negatively affected by any one or more of the funnel obstacles. In other words, encountering any of the funnel obstacles can lessen the value of your estate, and therefore your family may be left with less. Avoid headaches, and get more of your assets to your family by way of avoiding unnecessary taxes, fees & expenses.

How to get more to your family

Having a mindful estate plan in place allows you to avoid funnel obstacles and the associated time and expenses. For example, a typical death probate estate may take a year to close, but many take much longer. The cost of death probate varies by state and the complexity of the estate, but fees can range from a couple thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A proper estate plan may allow your family to bypass the probate courts and save time, money, and grief.

Proper estate planning can provide control of your wealth by allowing you to avoid unnecessary funnel obstacles and:

estate planning1. Maintain control of your assets while you are alive and mentally able.

2. Maintain control over how assets are managed upon your mental disability.

3. Effectively and efficiently control the distribution of assets upon death.

4. Control and protect assets after death (i.e., protect children from divorce, bad spending habits, children's creditors, and the like).

Contact one of Kelleher + Holland's estate planning attorneys to help you maintain control, avoid stress and alleviate unwanted expenses leaving more to your family.