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

The Six Things You Should NOT Include In Your Will

A will is one of the most basic estate planning tools. While relying solely on a will is rarely a suitable option for most people, just about every estate plan includes this key document in one form or another.

A will is used to designate how you want your assets distributed to your surviving loved ones upon your death. If you die without a will, state law governs how your assets are distributed, which may or may not be in line with your wishes.

That said, not all assets can (or should) be included in your will. For this reason, it’s important for you to understand which assets you should put in your will and which assets you should include in other planning documents like trusts.

While you should always consult with an experienced planning professional like us when creating your will, here are a few of the different types of assets that should not be included in your will.

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.

Estate Planning Must-Haves for Single Parents

If you are a single parent, life for you right now probably couldn’t get any busier. You are likely being pulled between work, school activities, and home — and the inevitable emergencies that fill the lives of single parents everywhere.

Being a single parent is a huge responsibility, even if you do share time with a parenting partner, and especially so if you don’t. Regardless, as a single parent, your children’s lives are now largely in your hands. So what would happen to them if something happened to you? Who would take care of them? Who would pay for their housing and food? Who would pay for their education? These are questions you need to get answered, and the best way to do that is through estate planning.

Having an estate plan that covers the care of your children in case you should be in a severe accident, fall ill, or die provides peace of mind for the single parent. It is worth knowing that everything and everyone you love is taken care of.

Here are the must-haves that can protect your children if something were to ever happen to you:

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 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

What Your Last Will & Testament Will (and Will Not) Do - Part 2

Yesterday, in part one, we looked at the different things having a will in place allows you to do. Here, in part two, we detail all of the things that your will does not do, along with identifying the specific estate planning tools and strategies that you should have in place to make up for the potential blind spots that exist in an estate plan that consists of only a will.

If you have yet to create your will, or you haven’t reviewed your existing will recently, contact our Personal Family Lawyer® to get this vital first step in your estate planning handled right away.

What Your Last Will & Testament Will (and Will Not) Do - Part 1

If you have already prepared your will, congratulations — too few Americans have taken this key first step in the estate planning process. In fact, only 33% of Americans have created their will, according to Caring.com’s 2022 Wills and Estate Planning Study.

Yet, while having a will is important — and all adults over age 18 should have this document in place — for all but a few people, creating a will is just one small part of an effective legal plan that works to keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict. With this in mind, here we look at exactly what having a will in place will — and will not — do for you and your loved ones in terms of estate planning.

Estate PlanningStephen PennerApril 13, 2023Wills, Probate, Guardianships, Kids Protection Plan®

Five Ways DIY Estate Plans Can Fail & Leave Your Family At Risk - Part 1

Do a Google search for “digital wills” or “online estate planning,” and you’ll find dozens of different websites offering low-cost, do-it-yourself (DIY) and sometimes even free estate planning documents, such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives.

From LegalZoom® and Rocket Lawyer® to TrustandWill.com and FreeWill.com, these DIY legal documents may seem like a cheap and easy way to finally cross estate planning off your to-do list — and do so without having to pay a lawyer big bucks to assist you. After all, you’ve been able to prepare and file your taxes online for years, is estate planning really that much different? And aren’t lawyers using the very same forms you find on these DIY document websites?

Estate PlanningStephen PennerApril 11, 2023DIY Estate Planning, Wills, Probate

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