Estate Planning | Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid

 
 
Estate Planning | There are certain mistakes that should always be avoided during estate planning. The section below talks about those mistakes and explains hat should be done instead.
Failure in thinking from all perspectives:
Sometimes, people get so engrossed in a specific planning approach, that they avoid looking at the bigger picture. It’s the duty of the advisors to explain some “what if” circumstances to their clients; this would allow them (the clients) to be prepared for potential scenarios.
For instance, when preparing an estate plan, some people don’t consider the fact that they could possibly get divorced in the future. The correct way of approaching the process, would be to take the possibility of getting divorced into account, and placing restrictions on the wealth being allocated outside the family.
Forgetting the pets:
Pets might be the most prized possessions in their owners’ lives. Often, though, people forget to take them into account when getting an estate plan ready. As a result, if the owners die, pets don’t have anyone to look after them. To prevent a situation like that from happening, one should always establish a pet trust.
Failure in updating all documents:
If the advisor fails to re-title or update other documents of the client, (the client) might not get the benefits that are offered by the estate planning documents. So, to maintain clarity, it’s extremely important to ensure that the concerned person re-titles his/her assets in the trust’s name. In addition, regular checking of retirement documents is necessary, for making sure that the beneficiary designations on them have been kept up-to- date.
Not considering digital assets:
When someone dies, his/her heirs often struggle to get access to the person’s passwords. This stops the heirs from getting hold of the dead individual’s digital assets. To prevent such issues, every individual should prepare a list of passwords and usernames, to ensure that a trustee or more trustworthy family members, have access to the list.
 
 
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