Around this time of year, many families resolve to take care of their estate planning needs. If you are thinking about whether you need an estate plan consider the following questions:
1. Has it been more than one year since you reviewed your estate plan?
2. If you or your spouse passed away today, are you uncertain about what would happen to your assets?
3. Do you have minor children or other people who are dependent on you? If you were not here to provide for them, would they be in financial trouble?
4. If you became incapacitated, would you or your family have to go through court proceedings to carry on your affairs?
5. Is anyone other than your present spouse listed as beneficiary on any life insurance policy or account?
6. Would you like to avoid probate of your estate?
7. Would potential nursing home expenses create a hardship for your family?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you may be in need of estate planning. There are a number of estate planning options available for most people. They include Wills, Revocable Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Probate avoidance. In Arizona, if you die without a will (intestate), the laws of the State of Arizona will determine who receives your property. Typically your property will first pass to your spouse and children. However, this depends on who survives you at the time of your death. The benefit of a will, trust, or other probate avoidance mechanism, is that they allow you to alter the State’s default distribution plan and allow you to set forth a distribution plan according to your personal preferences.
A will provides for the distribution of propertied owned by you at the time of your death, excluding property passing outside of probate and property payable to your estate at the time of your death. The scope and complexity of a will can vary greatly and should typically be suited to achieve your specific estate planning needs. This may require the inclusion of a trust in your estate plan. A trust is a fiduciary relationship in which a trustee holds legal title to specific property under a fiduciary duty to manage, invest, safeguard, and administer the trust assets and income for the benefit of designated beneficiaries who hold equitable title. A trust allows for the distribution of property both outside of the State’s distribution plan and outside of the probate process.
The attorneys of the Benavidez Law Group, P.C., are experienced and available to handle any estate planning questions you may have.
