Estate planning is an often overlooked area of responsibility for many Massachusetts residents. While some individuals may not believe that they have enough money to justify creating estate plans, others may worry about getting their plans right and not offending any of their family members with their decisions. Despite their concerns, pretty much anyone can benefit from having a basic estate plan in place.
One reason is because an estate plan is not just a set of rules for what to do when someone passes on. In fact, certain estate planning documents can be vitally important to ensuring the care and financial management of a person who may become incapacitated. In an estate plan a person may appoint individuals to manage their affairs and make medical decisions for them in the event that they are not able to do so.
Additionally, an estate plan can help a person direct their wealth and assets to the beneficiaries that they wish to see enriched. Without an estate plan, certain assets may be given to closely related relatives and those may not be the relations that the decedent wanted to benefit from their estate. An estate plan can also help a person ensure that their wealth is preserved and not diminished through taxes, probate, and other financially draining processes.
There are more benefits to preparing estate plans and readers can discuss them and their concerns with their trusted attorneys. Individual estate plans can take on very different formats and for that reason it is important that individual legal counsel is sought by all who wish to begin preparing their own testamentary documents.