The Real Cost to Your Family: Not Updating Your Estate Plan

This is the fourth in an ongoing series of articles discussing the true costs and consequences of failed estate planning. The series highlights a few of the most common — and costly — planning mistakes we encounter with clients. If the series exposes any potential gaps or weak spots in your plan, meet with your Personal Family Lawyer to learn how to properly address them.

If you’re like most people, you probably view estate planning as a burdensome necessity — just one more thing to check off of life’s endless “to-do” list.

You may shop around and find a lawyer to create planning documents for you, or you might try creating your own DIY plan using online documents. Then, you’ll put those documents into a drawer, mentally check estate planning off your to-do list, and forget about them.

The problem is, your estate plan is not a one-and-done type of deal.

In fact, if it’s not regularly updated when your assets, family situation, and/or the laws change, your plan will be totally worthless when your family needs it. What’s more, failing to regularly update your plan can create its own unique set of problems that can leave your family worse off than if you’d never created a plan at all.

The Real Cost to Your Family: Having No Estate Plan at All

This is the third in an ongoing series of articles discussing the true costs and consequences of failed estate planning. The series highlights a few of the most common — and costly — planning mistakes we encounter with clients. If the series exposes any potential gaps or weak spots in your plan, meet with your Personal Family Lawyer to learn how to properly address them.

When it comes to putting off or refusing to create an estate plan, your mind can concoct all sorts of rationalizations: “I can wait. I’m healthy and I have plenty of time.” “I won’t care because I’ll be dead,” “I’m too young,” “That won’t happen to me,” or “My family will know what to do.”

But these thoughts all come from a mix of egoic pride, denial, and above all, we imagine, a lack of real education about estate planning and the consequences to your family. Once you understand exactly what planning is designed to prevent and support, you’ll realize there really is no acceptable excuse for not having a plan, provided you are able to plan and truly care about your family’s experience after you die OR if/when you become incapacitated.

Indeed, the first step in creating a proper plan is to thoroughly understand the potential consequences of going without one. In the event of your death or incapacity, not having a plan could be incredibly traumatic and costly for your family, who will be left to deal with the mess you’ve left behind. That’s why creating one’s own estate plan is just a part of being a responsible adult.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerJuly 14, 2023Probate, Incapacity, Kids Protection Plan®, Guardianships

The Real Cost to Your Family: Relying Upon Only a Will

This is the second in an ongoing series of articles discussing the true costs and consequences of failed estate planning. The series highlights a few of the most common — and costly — planning mistakes we encounter with clients. If the series exposes any potential gaps or weak spots in your plan, meet with your Personal Family Lawyer to learn how to properly address them.

Whenever the topic of estate planning comes up, people invariably mention creating a will. And with good reason — having a will is a foundational aspect of your estate plan.

However, a will is only one small part of effective planning. In fact, if your plan consists of a will alone, you’re guaranteeing your family will have to go to court when you die. There’s a saying in the lawyer world of estate planning: “Where there’s a will, there’s a probate.” And it’s no laughing matter.

In our view, a primary goal of estate planning is to keep your family out of court and out of conflict no matter what happens to you. Yet with only a will in place, your plan can fall woefully short of that goal, leaving your loved ones — and yourself, if you become incapacitated — susceptible to getting stuck in an unnecessary, expensive, time-consuming, and public court process.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerJuly 13, 2023Wills, Probate, Creditors, Incapacity

Four Reasons Why You Can't Afford to Go Without an Estate Plan

When it comes to putting off or refusing to create an estate plan, your mind can concoct all sorts of rationalizations: “I won’t care because I’ll be dead,” “I’m too young,” “That won’t happen to me,” or “My family will know what to do.”

But these thoughts all come from a mix of pride, denial, and above all, a lack of real education about estate planning and the consequences to your family of not planning. Once you understand exactly how planning is designed to work and what it protects against, you’ll realize there is no acceptable excuse for not having a plan.

Indeed, the first step in creating a proper plan is to thoroughly understand the potential consequences of going without one. In the event of your death or incapacity, not having a plan could be incredibly traumatic and costly for both you and your family, who will be forced to deal with the mess you’ve left behind.

While each estate and family are unique, here are some of the things most likely to happen to you and your loved ones if you fail to create a plan.

Will Your Estate Plan Actually Work When Your Family Needs It?

If you’re like most people, you likely think estate planning is just one more task to check off of your life’s endless “to-do” list.

You may shop around and find a lawyer to create planning documents for you, or you might try creating your own DIY plan using online documents. Then, you’ll put those documents into a drawer, mentally check estate planning off your to-do list, and forget about them.

The problem is, estate planning is not a one-and-done type of deal.

In fact, if it’s not regularly updated when your assets, family situation, and the laws change, your estate plan will be worthless. What’s more, failing to update your plan can create its own set of problems that can leave your family worse off than if you’d never created a plan at all.

Online Wills? When You Should, When You Shouldn't, and Where to Do It

With all of the media about “digital wills” and “online estate planning” it could be tempting to think you can do your estate planning yourself, online. And, maybe you can. But, if you do, you need to know the potential pitfalls. Online estate planning could be a big trap for the unwary and actually leave your family worse off than if you had done nothing at all.

First and foremost, before you do any of your own online estate planning, it’s critical to understand your family dynamics, the nature of your assets, and what the state would say should happen to your assets if something happens to you. You see, whether or not you do estate planning, the state does have a plan for your assets if you become incapacitated or when you die. You need to know what that plan is, so you know whether or not you want to change it.

A good start on getting educated is this one hour training with estate planning attorney Ali Katz, which clarifies what you can and should do yourself, for free, online. The easy-to-watch training gives you access to a free online tool that you can use to create the one thing that would be most important for your family: a “treasure map” listing everything you own, where it is, and how your loved ones can access it. This tool is free to use, and creating your own personal resource map will be a valuable resource for the people you love.

Why “Just a Will” Is Never Enough

When you think of estate planning, a Will is usually the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, most people who contact us tell us they don’t need anything complicated for their estate - just a Will. Indeed, Wills have a reputation as the number one estate planning tool and can be seen all over TV shows and movies, from the dramatic “reading of the Will” (which rarely happens in real life) to characters plotting how best to defraud their billionaire uncle’s Will in order to inherit his lavish estate.

But although Wills are a key part of your estate plan - and a big part of the movies - relying on a Will alone won’t solve your estate planning needs - no matter what Hollywood says. Instead, using just a Will to plan your final wishes is likely to leave your loved ones with an expensive mess that won’t distribute your assets in the way you intended.

What’s more, a Will alone won’t ensure that you’re taken care of in the event of incapacity, and contrary to what you might think, relying on only a Will actually guarantees that your family will need to go to court when you die.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerMay 31, 2023Probate, Wills, Family Wealth Inventory

Estate Planning 101: Wills vs. Trusts

Wills and trusts are two of the most commonly used estate planning documents, and they form the foundation of most estate plans. While both documents are legal vehicles designed to distribute your assets to your loved ones upon your death, the way in which they work is quite different.

From when they take effect and the property they cover to how they are administered, wills and trusts have some key differences that you need to consider when creating your estate plan. That said, when comparing the two documents, you won’t necessarily be choosing between one or the other — most plans include both.

In fact, a will is a foundational part of nearly every person’s estate plan. Yet, you may want to combine your will with a living trust to avoid the blind spots inherent in plans that rely solely on a will. As you’ll learn below, the biggest of these blind spots is the fact that if your estate plan only consists of a will, you are guaranteeing your family has to go to court if you become incapacitated or when you die.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerApril 26, 2023Trusts, Wills, Probate

Probate: What It Is & How To Avoid It — Part 2

Unless you’ve created an estate plan that works to keep your family out of court, when you die (or become incapacitated) many of your assets must go through probate before those assets can be distributed to your heirs. Like most court proceedings, probate can be time-consuming, costly, and open to the public, and because of this, avoiding probate — and keeping your family out of court — is often a central goal of estate planning.

To spare your loved one’s the time, cost, and stress inherent to probate, yesterday in part one of this series, we explained how the probate process works and what it would entail for your loved ones. Here in part two, we’ll discuss the major drawbacks of probate for your family, and outline the different ways you can help them avoid probate with wise legal planning.

Probate: What It Is & How To Avoid It — Part 1

Unless you’ve created a proper estate plan, when you die many of your assets must first pass through the court process known as probate before those assets can be distributed to your heirs. Like most court proceedings, probate can be time-consuming, costly, and open to the public, and because of this, avoiding probate — and keeping your family out of court — is a central goal of most estate plans.

During probate, the court supervises a number of different legal actions, all of which are aimed at finalizing your affairs and settling your estate. Although we’ll discuss them more in-depth below, probate typically consists of the following processes:

Determining the validity of your will (if you have one).
Appointing an executor or administrator to manage the probate process and settle your estate.
Locating and valuing all of your assets.
Notifying & paying your creditors.
Filing & paying your taxes.
Distributing your assets to the appropriate beneficiaries.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerApril 19, 2023Probate, Taxes, Wills, Creditors

Licensed in California

(805) 965-0085

Blog

(805) 965-0085