Two Mistakes To Avoid When Planning Your Estate

There are a number of mistakes you can allow to happen when planning your estate, but a couple of them can create personal problems and unnecessary family squabbles over your property. Trust and immaturity, while maybe not evident in your loved ones prior to your passing, may balloon to the surface as soon as they close your casket.

Trust and the maturity of your beneficiaries are two important things to discuss when you sit down with your estate attorney to write your final will and testament.

Trusting Others to Fulfill Your Wishes

Many times individuals will purposefully leave someone out of their will in the hopes that one of the actual named beneficiaries will take care of that person. There may have even been an  earnest verbal commitment made prior to death.

Sometimes there are people who may have creditor problems, or other situations where the money may be absorbed almost immediately as soon as the bequest is received. The reason for making this potential error may seem like a good idea, but it is not.

Often someone's character can dramatically change after the death of a family member. What you might think is a simple situation, one in which a particular person will carry out your dying wishes, may turn into a family squabble over your property. While it may seem like an unrealistic scenario to you now, rest assured, greed and a sense of entitlement can disrupt the best laid estate plans.

If you do not feel it is in the financial best interest of the beneficiary to put them directly in the will, have your attorney set up an established trust. If you establish an appropriate trust, all potential problems can be avoided.

Under Aged Children and Immature Adults

While you may think it is a wonderful idea to make a young person part of your final wishes, bequeathing large sums of money or property to immature individuals can be a bad decision.

Sometimes you are setting yourself up for a similar situation as to trusting another person to carry our your wishes after your death. Things do happen and personalities – often in the name of good conscience – get in the way of your desires.

There are few safeguards you can discuss with your estate attorney that can easily prevent your inheritance from being squandered away, or misdirected to the wrong person.

Stipulations such as age, graduation from college, or any other gauge of personal maturity, can be created. Whatever criteria you determine are in the best interest of person who is about to receive your inheritance are usually far better than handing over a large sum of cash, or massive amount of property.

When sitting down with an estate attorney, make sure to cover both these potential pratfalls of last will and testament. You will be taking simple steps to not only protect your wishes, but to also protect some of your beneficiaries from themselves.

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