Too many people die without a will.  Too many people are stricken by incapacitating disease or injury without having designated a family member or loved one to make health care decisions on their behalf when they no longer are able.  Don’t be the person who kept putting off these essential estate planning steps until it was too late.

1.         Provide for your immediate family

You can pass your property on to your spouse and other members of your family, make sure you’ve selected a competent person to settle the estate and protect your property from creditors. Without estate planning, your beneficiaries will get less, and they’ll get it later.

2.         Provide for other relatives who need help and guidance.

You can establish a special trust for family members whose lives who might be more difficult without you being there or for those who will need support after you are gone.

3.         Get your property to beneficiaries quickly.

You will want your beneficiaries to get the property you left them quickly without the delays of probate. Through trusts or other methods, property can pass quickly outside the probate system.

4.         Ease the strain on your family.

By planning your funeral arrangements ahead of time you will be able to ease the burden to your family during the trying time of your loss. You can make your wishes known on how you would like your funeral and your final resting place.

5.         Minimize expenses.

Good estate planning keeps the cost of transferring property to beneficiaries as low as possible. This can be done by choosing competent people to handle the administration of you estate.

6.         Reduce taxes on your estate.

Every dollar your estate has to pay in estate or inheritance taxes is a dollar that your beneficiaries won’t get. A good estate plan can give the maximum allowed by law to your beneficiaries and the minimum to the government.

7.         Make your retirement years easier.

You can coordinate your estate plan with retirement, health-care, and other benefits to help you achieve the most comfortable final years while still providing for your loved ones.

8.         Plan for incapacity.

Health-care advance directives, living wills, and durable health-care powers of attorney enable you to decide in advance about medical treatment. You can make decisions for yourself so family members wont have to guess what your desires are in a difficult time.

9.         Help a favorite cause.

Your estate plan can help you support religious, educational, and other charitable causes, either during your lifetime or upon your death, and at the same time take advantage of tax laws designed to encourage private philanthropy.

10        Make sure your business goes on smoothly.

If you have a business, you can provide for an orderly succession and continuation of its affairs by spelling out what will happen to your interest in the business.

*The American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates Second Edition