One of the most important things a person can do for themselves and their families is to create an estate plan. An estate plan allows individuals to plan for the future while they still can. It may help your loved ones avoid having to pay a hefty tax on your assets. Unfortunately, many will tend to make a number of errors while crafting their plan as they may not be aware of a certain estate law or even consider obtaining the services of lawyers in Birmingham, Alabama.
Failure to Plan at All
The fact is that the older you are, the greater at risk you are placing yourself and your family of running into financial issues in the future. In the event that you are unfortunately incapacitated or killed during an accident, your estate plan will revert to what Alabama has within its law books. That means that even if your family brings in an attorney, the estate law used will be that of the state.
Failure to Update Their Estate Plan
Speak to any lawyers in Birmingham, and they will tell you that a person needs to update their estate plan every few years. This is because life changes, especially if you’ve written your plan while you were young. Issues such as relationships falling apart, new assets coming into the picture, and the addition of children are just a few of the reasons for updating your estate plan. It is highly recommended to bring in a personal attorney to help you navigate these changes.
Planning for Death but not Life
When people think of an estate plan, they usually connect it with a last will and testament. Although it certainly can function like that, an estate plan is also meant to be created for in the event that you are no longer able to handle your own affairs. Dementia, paralysis, or illness are just a few of the things that could happen during your lifetime.
Not Seeking the Advice of a Lawyer
When people don’t have millions in their bank account, it can make them think that they don’t need a lawyer to help them craft their estate plan. The fact is that it is necessary as you will need legal advice from a lawyer to help you deal with the various law and tax issues surrounding estate planning. Failure to get tax information correct can lead to having your family members pay hefty taxes in the future.
Not Enough Information
There have been horror stories where children of parents who passed away believed they were going to inherit a vast amount of money only to find out they had a number of debts. These kinds of issues can arise, but only if you fail to provide enough information within your estate plan.
As you can see from the information above, there are a number of mistakes that can easily be made by an individual. Therefore it is recommended to bring in an experienced attorney to guide you through your estate planning process.
