Sometimes, even people who have estate plans in place don’t have a clue as to what the paperwork actually says or means. Educating yourself — either through your estate planning advisor or by doing your due diligence — is an essential part of estate planning, drawing up a will, and setting up trusts.
It helps take out the complexities of the planning process by breaking them down into much smaller and easier-to-digest parts. It can ultimately help you fully understand the benefits as well as the impact of proper estate planning on your wealth. Below are some basic concepts you should know about estate planning:
- The main purpose of estate planning is to lay down how your properties and assets should be managed after you die. However, its uses go far beyond fatal incidents. Estate planning also involves making arrangements for the management of your property should you become mentally incapacitated. Estate plans address both circumstances of incapacity as well as death.
- There are various kinds of taxes that may affect your estate, including transfer taxes, income taxes, gift taxes, estate taxes, and inheritance taxes. Understanding how each will affect your wealth as well as what your beneficiaries will receive after the fact is critical to making important estate planning decisions.
- Estate planning also has to do with managing how your properties are titled, as this will typically dictate who will inherit the asset after your death. Titles can be in the form of joint names with right of survivorship, revocable living trust, tenants in common, and tenants by the entirety.
Good estate planning attorneys take the responsibility of educating their clients as well as their prospective clients about the foundations of estate planning, whether or not they have an existing estate plan or are new to the concept. Talk to an advisor today to find out more.
A consultation with us and MVL is free and can be held either at our offices or in the comfort of your own home. Call 01424 577070 or email info@mvlwillsandtrusts.co.uk for an appointment.