3 Reasons to Plan Your Estate

There are a few reasons why one would want to plan their estate. I've listed my top three reasons:

1. Estate planning helps you take control in those days when you can no longer speak for yourself. A New York estate planning lawyer can help you draft documents that lay out your wishes in the event that you are unable to speak. For example, some of these documents involve decisions to be made when you may be in a coma or other medical state that precludes you from properly communicating your wishes.
2. Estate planning allows you to control how your heirs inherit your assets. Although you may think your heirs can come to a mutual agreement on their own, state law might preclude them from having any one of the assets you have set aside for them. This could happen, for example, if you didn't realize that you owned a property in joint tenancy with someone else. By having a NY estate attorney look over your documents, you can ensure that your heirs will inherit exactly what you wanted them to inherit.
3. Estate planning can help you avoid estate tax. As it stands right now, nobody really knows what will happen with estate tax. It's quite possible that the estate tax for 2011 onwards will target estates valued over $1 million. As a result, many people will want to know how to avoid paying estate tax. New York estate planning lawyers know how to work around the estate tax rules and place assets into trusts that remain outside the reach of the tax-man (or tax-woman).

These are just my top three reasons. There are many more reasons why you should consider getting your estate planned. Talk to a NY estate attorney if you are thinking of having your estate planned.

Related Resources

• Recap of Posts: Healthcare Decisions (FindLaw's New York Estate Planning News Blog)
• What is 'Estate Planning'? (FindLaw's New York Estate Planning News Blog)
• Meet With A New York Estate Planning Attorney (FindLaw)