The importance of thoughtful will and estate planning
They say life is for living, which is why your will and any estate planning you might have to do probably isn’t at the top of your to-do list. However, the fact is that although you might not want to think about it, for obvious reasons, it’s crucial that you do.
Thoughtful will and estate planning can have a wide range of benefits that, although they might not be for you exactly, they’ll be for your loved ones, so why not make a start and think about your will today? It’s far better to do that and complete the task, a task you won’t have to think about again, than to put it off and make it all feel like a bigger deal than it really is.
So, with this in mind, let’s take a look at the importance of thoughtful will and estate planning, and when you get a better idea of why you need to do it, it might motivate you to get started.
Securing your assets for the future
You might assume that you don’t actually have to do any estate planning because it’s only something for rich people to do—after all, if you don’t own a home or a car and you don’t have much money in savings, is there any point in writing a will and planning things out?
The truth, however, is that everyone should do good estate planning because without a will in place, you might find that your assets (and you will have some, no matter who you are) will be split up and distributed according to the law, rather than your own wishes. In other words, just because you think someone will inherit from you, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will, you need to write a will to make sure.
When you take the time to write a will and plan for the future, you can ensure that the things you own are given to the people you want to have them, including if you’re considering donating in memory to a charity, which will reduce any potential problems for those who are left behind.
Providing for your loved ones
One of the biggest reasons for writing a will and going through estate planning is that you’ll be able to provide for your loved ones in the future. As we said earlier, just because you assume someone will get your property or money once you’ve gone, that might not be the legal situation, which is why a will makes sure it happens.
You can also designate guardians for your children under the age of 18, ensuring that their lives are taken care of and disrupted as little as possible, given the circumstances. Or what about elderly relatives who you currently look after? What would happen to them if you were to pass away first? It’s a good idea to write all this down in a will so everyone is taken care of and all your loved ones are provided for, whether that’s with money, possessions, or a secure future.
Minimize taxes
The two things that are definite for everyone are death and taxes, so it shouldn’t really come as a surprise to find that you’ll still have to pay tax even when you die – or rather, your beneficiaries will. Without proper planning, it could be that your estate gets a big tax bill and there could be legal fees as well, which means that the amount of money you wanted to pass to your loved ones gets reduced, potentially by a significant amount.
When you write a will and plan carefully (with expert help), you can use all kinds of different strategies to minimize the amount of tax that will be due on your estate; this could include gifts, trusts, charitable donations, and much more. This why it’s a good idea to speak to a professional who can guide you through the many legal options you have to reduce the tax your estate will owe and ensure that your loved ones get as much as possible.
Keep your business going
If you’re a business owner, it’s another excellent reason for writing a will, and it’s why estate planning is so important. If you don’t have a clear plan in place for your business and what’s going to happen to it when you’re no longer around, it could all have to shut down. That’s going to be a problem if you had intended for it to keep going, especially if you wanted a family member to take over.
Plus, what about your employees? If you die without making your wishes about your business and its future clear, you might cause them to become unemployed without any compensation, and that could definitely have a ripple effect.
So, if you have a business, you’ll need to write down precisely what should happen to it after you die, and this is especially important if you want to keep it going. You’ll have to talk about who’s going to take it over, whether you want to sell it, and much more, so it’s something to take your time over.
Author bio
Freelance writer, Delicia Warren, is passionate about the environment and the impact humans are having on the world around us. After starting her career in the sustainability field, after taking a period of time to raise her two small humans, Delicia now dedicates her spare time to writing about how people can make a difference, one step at a time.
