You never know when your time will come, so it’s best to be prepared. If you are worried and want to lift a burden from your heirs, then you might want to consider estate planning, as soon as possible. This will be useful not only for your own peace of mind, but it will also be easier for your heirs.
What Is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is one of the tasks that usually escapes anyone’s priorities but serve an important role when you aren’t here to settle your assets. Estate planning is the act of preparing a set of documents that will allow your heirs to settle your assets, according to your decision in the event of your death. The planning will include settlement of taxes and bequeathing of assets to certain heirs. Usually, this is done with the help of an estate planner or a lawyer who’s experienced in estate law.
Should You Prepare Your Home?
One of the high valued assets for everyone is usually their homes. Normally, you’d like your home to be passed on to your family or people you care about.
Now, the question is should you prepare your home when close to the end of your life?
The simple answer to it is ‘Yes’.
Some of the reasons why you should prepare your home when your time is near are listed below:
- Avoid Probate
Without preparing your home, you allow your heirs to be open to probate. Probate is when ownership and transfer of the assets need to be verified and authenticated in court. This process can be very tedious and expensive for your heirs. Avoiding probate will be extremely beneficial financially and in the interest of time. This will lift a heavy burden from your heirs.
Leaving the courts to decide might also result in inauthenticity of the bequeathing of assets. If this happens, your heirs will be left with nothing. It’s best to plan them out as soon as possible so as not to trouble your heirs or have your assets go to waste.
- Minimize Estate Taxes
To maximize the value of your assets and properties when it gets passed on to your heirs, you need to try minimizing the estate tax. When the land title of your home is transferred to your heirs, the government will be charging estate tax which will be heavy on the pocket. However, the good thing is that you can avoid all this by getting a sound estate planning.
A lawyer can advise you ways on how not to trigger the transfer taxes. There are also new laws that offer exemptions for spouses and annual tax-free gifts for family. This can all be settled during your estate planning process.
- Ensuring Your Family’s Home
Another reason why you should prepare your home is to ensure that your family will still have a house to live in after you pass. Estate planning will clearly state how your house will be owned by your family. This will serve as a security when you leave the earth. It will also give you some peace of mind that your family will live comfortably after you pass away.
- Avoid Confusion
You should also prepare your loved one to avoid a messy encounters and arguments. When you are no longer here to tell people what you think, it may cause confusion and disruption among family members due to differences in opinion. To eliminate any doubts, estate planning can clearly state to whom your house goes. This will save a lot of time, money, and effort. A little planning will go a long way especially with regards to estate planning.
- Choose Distribution and Allocation
Estate planning will allow you to allocate your property, home, and land according to your preference. Without one, your house and money might go to the wrong person. Write down a will so that it clearly states which assets belong to whom.
If the courts can’t arrive at a decision or aren’t able to allocate your houses properly, then everything will just go to that state. This will just be a waste of all your time and effort here on earth if you can’t pass on your belongings to the people that you truly care about.
Conclusion
Estate planning isn’t only for the rich. Whatever your net worth is, you need to make sure that it goes to the people you truly intend it for. To avoid any confusion or chaos, it’s best to prepare your home in advance because you never know when your time will come. The earlier you plan for it, the better it’s for everybody!
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