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When it comes to estate planning, if you are like most people, you automatically think about taking legal steps to ensure the right people inherit your belongings when you’re gone. Although that thought is not wrong, it does leave out a very important aspect, planning for life. Planning for life is perhaps the most critical part of planning.

You bring your children into the world with love. You raise them with love, caring and concern. Why should anything be different even if you are no longer here? If you’re concerned about leaving your belongings to them safely, responsibly and meaningfully, you should create an estate plan to pass on your legacy of love as well as your assets. But, if your plan simply leaves what you have outright and directly to your children, you may be leaving behind a different type of legacy, the outcome of which is contrary to your views as a parent.

Unless you’ve created a proper estate plan, when you’re gone, before any of your belongings are distributed, many of your assets must first pass through the court process known as probate. Like most court proceedings, probate can be time-consuming, costly, aggravating, and open to the public. Avoiding probate—and keeping your family out of court—should be a primary goal of most estate plans.

If a family member or friend has asked you to serve as trustee for their trust either during their life, or upon their death, it’s a big honor—this means they consider you among the most honest, reliable, and responsible people they know.

Part 2

 To spare your family’s time, cost, and stress associated with probate, our last article in part one of this series, “Probate: What It Is & How To Avoid It”, we explained how the probate process works and what it would entail for your loved ones. Here in part two, we’ll discuss the major drawbacks of probate for your family, and further outline the different ways you can help them avoid probate with wise planning.

People often come to us curious—or confused—about the role trusts play in saving on taxes. Given how frequently this issue comes up, we’re going to explain the tax implications associated with different types of trusts in order to clarify this issue. Of course, if you need further clarification about trusts, taxes, or any other issue related to estate planning, meet with us, for additional guidance.