Did you know you already have an estate plan? The only question is whether it is the estate plan you want— the one that’s best for you and your family.

Anyone who owns assets has an estate, whether those assets fill a 50-room mansion or a shopping cart.  Upon a person’s death, those assets must, by law, be properly distributed.  Exactly which assets are distributed to whom depends on the estate plan.  Without proper planning, a court could determine their distribution in accordance with West Virginia state law, which may not fit the wishes of the deceased. An estate planning attorney can help you design a sound, cost-effective estate plan that complements your overall financial circumstances.

Why you need an estate plan - Many people assume that estate planning is only about saving estate taxes.  Consequently, they often ignore estate planning because they assume that their estate is too small to be taxed.  Yet increased home values, larger life insurance policies and larger retirement accounts often make estates more vulnerable to taxes than their owners may realize.

Also, many families assume that because Congress has reduced federal estate taxes, and may permanently eliminate them, they either don’t need a formal estate plan or they can delay work on one.  Regardless of what Congress ultimately decides regarding federal estate taxes, many estates, even modest-sized ones, will remain vulnerable to estate taxes.

But there are several other valid reasons why everyone needs an estate plan, regardless of the tax concerns, including ensuring your assets go where you want them to go; controlling assets while you are alive but incapacitated; controlling assets after death; minimizing the emotional and financial burden on your heirs; minimizing feuding among heirs over your estate; increasing the amount available for charitable donations; and avoiding the cost and delay of probate. 

Despite the numerous benefits of estate planning, it is a subject that many families avoid talking about.  There are several reasons for this, including:  

·        Many don’t want to face a subject that ultimately is about mortality;

·        It may dredge up family conflicts;

·        Many don’t want to talk about money with their heirs;

·        Parents don’t want to spoil their kids with money; and

·        Many are hesitant to invest time and money into developing an estate plan.

But the issue will not go away. Delay or avoidance can prove costly not only from a tax standpoint, but in unnecessary conflicts, anger, time and confusion among the heirs. Start with your estate’s assets and your wishes. Greer Law can provide you with a questionnaire that will simplify this process.

The result is a snapshot of the current financial health of your estate and provides a benchmark against which future progress (or lack of progress) can be measured. It also shows whether you have a potential tax problem that you need to address. But most important, reviewing your estate’s assets (including your favorite easy chair and golf clubs) starts you on the road to deciding where and how you want those assets to go. What do you want your spouse, children, relatives or close friends to have? Are they capable of managing it, or might a trust be necessary? Do you want to give some of it to charity -- during your lifetime or after death? What do you want to do with your business—sell it or pass it to the next generation?

Once you have a clear idea of what you want to do with your property, you can begin exploring, what tools and strategies can make that happen with the most efficiency at the least cost. It’s also important that this planning be done in the context of your current overall financial circumstances.