Why You Need A California Estate Planning Lawyer

What Is An Estate? Your estate includes all your assets, both financial and non-financial, from houses to smaller personal items. It’s everything you own—everything you’ve worked so hard to accumulate in your lifetime. Distributing an estate after you die can be straightforward. However, the quick, complete, and hassle-free distribution of your estate hinges on the quality of your estate plan. What Is Estate Planning & Why Is It Important? Get Your Estate Planning Done For Your FutureEstate planning is the process of leaving clear instructions as to what will happen to you and your assets when you pass. It can also relay your wishes regarding medical and financial decisions should you become incapacitated, care of minor children, and more. It serves as your voice when you aren’t around or able to make your wishes known. Without an estate plan, your loved ones—or the court—will be left to decide how your estate will be handled. That can lead to indecision about healthcare, cause unnecessary stress, arguments among family, and financial problems. It can also result in money from your estate being wasted on expensive probate court processes or, in some cases, assets being seized by the State Department of Unclaimed Property. On the other hand, careful estate planning serves to streamline the distribution process, make things easier on your loved ones, and minimizes the estate tax paid by your family, ensuring more of the legacy you leave behind goes where it belongs. ESTATE PLANNING IS NOT JUST FOR THE RICH One misconception we often encounter is that estate planning is only for the rich. The word “estate” conjures up images of the Kennedys or the Rockefellers. The reality is, though, that the kinds of issues we seek to address during the estate planning process are applicable to virtually everyone. Who will look after your children if you are not able to? Who will make your financial decisions and ensure that your bills continue to get paid if you are hospitalized and incapacitated? Who will make your healthcare decisions and ensure that your healthcare wishes are honored? How will you ensure that the assets you have worked hard to accumulate will not be lost to creditors and predators? What will your legacy be? I can’t think of anybody for whom these questions are irrelevant; irrespective of their financial situation. With that being said, for families that have accumulated several million dollars of assets or more, there are more advanced estate planning issues that need to be addressed. Minimizing potential estate tax exposure is a major component of the advanced planning that we do for families in that category. We will be able to advise you whether or not advanced planning of that nature is appropriate for you. Weiner Law 12707 High Bluff Drive Ste. 125 San Diego, CA 92130 (858) 333-8844 https://weinerlegacylaw.com/