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Top 10 Estate Planning Mistakes
During my time as an estate attorney, I have seen many people make many mistakes when it comes to wills and trusts. I have posted this article in an effort to prevent you from making similar mistakes. What many fail to realize is that this is not about death or a morbid fascination with such events. Rather, this is about about empowerment and making sure that you save your loved ones from having to deal with these issues after the fact.
Avoid these 10 Common Estate Planning Mistakes
As a Personal Family Lawyer®, I see many of the same estate planning mistakes made time and again by people who either fail to plan properly or who use “do-it-yourself” estate planning websites or forms in an effort to save money.
Without professional guidance, this can cause more problems for your heirs and end up depleting estate assets by far more than what you could potentially “save” by doing it yourself online.
A qualified estate planning attorney or Personal Family Lawyer® can help you avoid these 10 common estate planning mistakes:
1. Failure to leave any written documentation of your assets, including a list of your online accounts and passwords
2. Failure to let family members know where to find important estate planning documents
3. Failure to name a guardian for minor children or choosing a guardian who lives far away without planning for temporary, local guardianship (solved with a comprehensive Kids Protection Plan®)
4. Failure to name recipients for your personal possessions
5. Failure to designate beneficiaries for retirement and other financial accounts
6. Failure to name secondary beneficiaries
7. Failure to name alternative trustees or executors
8. Failure to properly fund or title assets to any trusts you have established
9. Failure to update your estate plan as life circumstances change
10. Failure to create an estate plan of any kind and instead leaving it to the court system to decide how your assets will be distributed
If you’d like to learn more about how to avoid common estate planning mistakes that could cost your heirs dearly, please feel free to leave a comment or to ask me questions. If you are considering hiring an estate planning attorney, feel free to contact me by email at acarducci@msn.com or anthony.carducci@legalhelpmaryland.com or by phone at the office at 888-628-2220.
