Most people start the process of estate planning to deal with “What If”.
What If you died and your children were still too young to care for themselves?
What If you were no longer physically able to care for yourself?
What If you had very specific instructions for how your property should be passed on?
Many people with such worries go online, find a cheap Will, fill out the form and think they’ve taken care of everything. Such a choice can create a costly, messy nightmare for the people left behind to deal with and end up doing nothing that you intended.
Let’s Speculate For a Moment
Let’s say you’re a young woman, divorced and the mother with two small children. You go online and complete the basic form for a Will leaving everything to your children to be divided equally between them. Does that online site tell you that minors can’t own property or control money?
No.
But you’re not really worried because you really plan to be around at least until your children are grown.
Then you run face first into Murphy’s Law and the worst that can happen does. You get the cancer diagnosis. Good thing you thought ahead and filled out that Will online. Your kids will be okay.
What you don’t know is that because of the way the form you used is worded, your property and money will have to go through probate, the court will have to appoint a guardian to take care of the assets you left to your children and the court will have to appoint a guardian to take care of the children themselves.
Estate Planning Isn’t a Cookie Cutter Process
Online form sites don’t spell out all the things that can go wrong and all the things you need to think about to ensure that you’re actually doing what you intend.
You don’t get a “do over” in planning your estate. Often when the mistakes are discovered, it’s too late for you to fix them. Look at the fine print for online legal documents – the sites themselves will tell you they are no substitute for legal advice.
If you really want to save some money, skip the lattes for a year. Don’t skimp on your children’s future.
Call us today to schedule your complimentary family wealth planning session at 661-362-0770.