5 Essential Estate Planning Tips Everyone Should Know

Most people don’t really think about making a will or even plan for the future of their estate. If you’re not intimately familiar with inheritance laws in your specific state or territory, your estate might not end up getting divided just the way you intended, or they might end up paying exorbitant fees due to some legal technicalities. Of course, considering circumstances change – sometimes very unexpectedly – you or your heirs might still face an unpleasant surprise somewhere down the line.

That’s why you want to plan for unfortunate eventualities on time. Decide who will manage your estate, receive your assets, or make decisions about your medical care if you’re incapacitated.

Here are a few tips on how to handle that in the best way possible.

Talk to your loved ones

The first thing you should do is talk to the people who will be the beneficiaries of your will. This may be a difficult conversation, and if your estate is relatively simple, it may end on that. However, if you’re leaving someone money in trust, want someone to manage your real estate, or take guardianship over your dependents… the complexity only increases.

For starters, someone might just not want the responsibility involved, and you should know that before you draw up your will and make potentially damaging decisions. You need to know who you can trust for the important things. Also, some beneficiaries may simply wish to concede their part of the inheritance to someone else, which means you can streamline the process. On the other hand, someone might not be happy with their share, and you need to account for that or include provisions in the will that will minimize the chances of them challenging it. Again, you need to know all these things beforehand.

Outline your will

Next, you should write down what you want to happen to your possessions in the case of your death or incapacitation. The will needs to be clear and unambiguous and ensure clear provisions on who will inherit your assets, who will make medical decisions in your stead, and how you want your funeral to be handled.

Doing this in a timely fashion will give you peace of mind, as you will be certain your loved ones will be taken care of and that your lifelong possessions will be distributed according to your wishes. It will also prevent disputes among your heirs and ensure you’ll minimize any tax obligations they’ll have to deal with.

Get professional help

Once you’ve identified what you want, you need someone to help you make sure you actually get it. While it’s possible to do it on your own and hope for the best, it’s not recommended. Do some research and find a good estate planning lawyer and accountant in your area. They can help you with actualizing the previous step and making sure your will is bulletproof.

Once the will has been drawn up, you need to name a person who will execute it. If your estate is simple, a family member or a friend can do it. However, complex estates, involving multiple immovable properties and/or income streams, are best left to professionals.

Set up life insurance and superannuation benefits

Few people want to think about the possibility of their deaths, but if you’re considering the future of your estate, you’re not one of them. If you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to take out a life insurance policy and make it clear who the beneficiaries are.

On the same note, you’ll also want to make death benefit nominations for your superannuation. Check what the rules are and how often you’ll have to update it, as any nominations usually only stay valid for a few years.

You can also make these notes in your will and/or leave it to the lawyer or estate executor to deal with, but some prudence won’t hurt. You’ve come this far, stay responsible about this too.

Keep updating your will

As we said before, circumstances change – sometimes very unexpectedly. Perhaps you’ll have a falling out with someone, perhaps yours or someone else’s financial circumstances will change, perhaps you’ll get another child, or buy a new property… in any of these cases, you should update your will to reflect the new reality.

Adding and removing beneficiaries is simple enough, but it sometimes requires more serious restructuring; if, for example, they were meant to be guardians of your children and/or get specific resources in trust.

Wrapping up

Once you actually decide to do it, the whole process really shouldn’t be too complicated – especially if you get professional help. So, take that first step, talk to your loved ones, and make a will. While initiating the procedure may sound gloomy, it’s a responsible thing to do, and it will give you peace of mind in the years to come.