It may sound a little redundant, but assessing your assets is an essential part of the estate planning process and it’s an activity that you and your Phoenix asset protection lawyer should get into early on in the estate planning game.
Inventory your assets: This makes it easier to choose who should get the different assets held within the estate. Deciding this one the fly? Don’t try this one at home, kids! The inventory of your assets needs to include absolutely everything! This means real estate and retirement funds, life insurance, any pension, art and intellectual property… everything! The details are where many estate plans tend to get a little a little nutty. Your Arizona asset protection lawyer can help you sort out the minutia so you don’t lose your mind.
With the wise counsel of your extraordinary Thompson attorney, take the inventory of your estate and calculate its worth. Then decide the answer to your beneficiaries’ biggest question: Who will get what? [Sidenote: Ensure that the language used in your will and in any estate documents is crystal clear, otherwise your whole estate could wind up in fun ol' probate.]
Are you sacred to talk to potential beneficiaries about what they may – or may not – have coming to them? It may seem awkward, but handling this while you’re still alive and kicking helps those who you love and adore to understand what your reasons are, and usually a person’s choices are not meant to be devisive. But when no one can ask you why – because you’re gone – then you leave people with unanswered questions that might well bother them for a lifetime.
So let’s recap: Inventory your assets, know what your assets are worth, let those who will benefit from your estate know what they do or don’t have coming. And last but not least, don’t try to handle any of this without your Chandler estate planning lawyer on board. Call Thompson Law today with any estate planning questions you have: (480) 634-7480.
