If you’re thinking estate planning is no big deal, you might be right. If you have no property, or you don’t care who gets it, or what it costs for them to get it (in time and money), then you have nothing to worry about…unless you are seriously injured in an accident, or are so sick that someone needs to take care of you. If that happens and you don’t have a durable power of attorney or advance health care directive in place it will force your loved ones to go to court for a conservatorship in order to take care of you and your affairs.
If you are part of the 70% of Americans who don’t even have a will, you might want to take care of that quickly. A number of years ago a woman lost her husband following a serious illness. It was the second marriage for both of them. The husband had not added his new wife’s name to his bank accounts, nor had he named her a beneficiary, nor had he prepared a will to make sure his property went to her upon his death. Due to the amount of money in the husband’s bank account ($300,000.00), the widow was forced to probate the estate. Two children, who the husband had never been involved with, by his choice, learned of the probate and made a claim. Because of intestacy laws (no will) the widow was forced to give the two children one-half of the money…$150,000.00. A simple will would have saved the widow $150,000.00.
Without a proper plan for the future, you could be leaving your children or loved ones with a similar mess, including court costs, attorney fees, long court delays, possible litigation and your property not going where you want it to go.
