Understanding Estate Planning

Estate planning is where a person, who’s still alive, anticipates and arranges how their estate will be disposed of once they are deceased. Often, this planning is done to ensure that any probate administration uncertainties after they are dead are eliminated. At the same time, Austin estate planning lawyer is handled to ensure that the value of a piece of estate is maximized by reducing taxes and any other unexpected expenses that may occur. 

The primary goal of estate planning is generally determined by the client’s main objectives and may be as complex or simple as the client dictates. Often, guardians will be designated for beneficiaries in incapacity and minor children. To some extent, estate planning laws overlap with elder law, which also includes other provisions like long-term care.

Nations whose legal system was drafted based on the British common law system, such as the United States, generally use the probate system when distributing a decedent’s property. The probate process mainly involves:

1. The entrance of a decedent’s alleged will, if there is any, in a court

2. After hearing the evidence from the estate’s representative, the court then decides if it, the will, is valid

3. A representative is then appointed by the court to serve as a fiduciary to close the estate 

4. Unknown and known creditors are then notified to file claim, if any, against the estate 

5. Claims are then paid out in the priority or order governed by state statutes

6. The remaining funds are then distributed to heirs (that’s if there is no will) and to beneficiaries listed in the will

7. The presiding probate judge then closes out the estate 

Estate planning involves or consists of trusts, powers of appointment, beneficiary designation, gift, powers of attorney, property ownership, and the will itself. In recent days, specific final arrangements like whether to be cremated or to be buried are also being incorporated in the document. Modern plans may even cover how to decrease or defer estate taxes and how to wind up a business in the event signatory dies.