DIY estate planning often backfires. Errors can surface after your passing, leaving your loved ones to deal with complex issues that may have been completely avoidable. A trusted estate planning attorney can help you uncover and address problems you may not even be aware of, preventing family disputes, protecting your assets, and ensuring your wishes are carried out.
What Are the Common Mistakes People Make When Creating a DIY Estate Plan?
DIY estate planners often have you fill out a few forms and leave it at that. However, form-based planning is usually inadequate. Furthermore, it’s important to regularly update your plans over time. A proper estate plan is tailored to fit the specific dynamics of your family, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
Common mistakes that can have major impacts on your estate include not properly designating your beneficiaries or titling your assets. Ensuring your estate passes to your heirs in accordance with your wishes is one of the most important parts of estate planning, but minor errors in those steps can result in completely different results than you intended.
“It is more prudent to use an attorney to draft your documents the first time, than use an online service and pay an attorney to fix it later.”
What Are the Biggest Risks of Creating a DIY Estate Plan?
Doing your estate planning on your own can heighten your family’s chances of getting bogged down in the worst parts of the process. Some of the significant risks involved with DIY estate planning include the following:
- A lengthy probate: Probate isn’t just for those who have died without a will. Most estate plans involving a will must still go through the probate process. Any mistakes or ambiguities in your plan can lead to opportunities for others to contest your will and drag out the proceedings for years.
- Leaving less for your family: Between estate and inheritance taxes, probate costs, and other expenses, non-optimal planning can drain a significant portion of your estate before it reaches your loved ones.
- Leaving your assets exposed: If you’re dealing with significant debt, expensive long-term care, or legal liability, not structuring your assets properly can leave your heirs last in line for what remains of their inheritance.
- Missing key nuances: Everyone’s family dynamic is different. If you draft estate plans without professional guidance, you may never become aware of the optimal choices for your particular situation.
How Does Hiring an Estate Planning Attorney Save You Time and Headaches?
An experienced estate planning attorney can help you draft documents and properly prepare your assets to ensure your wishes are respected. Some key aspects of estate planning that an attorney can help with include the following:
- Efficient passing of assets: A well-structured estate plan can help you give your heirs their inheritance quickly and painlessly while they’re grieving.
- Minimizing stress on your family: Estate planning mistakes can force your loved ones to take on additional responsibilities after your passing. We can help you honor your legacy by giving your family the ability to come together and mourn your loss without stress or concern.
- Avoiding probate: A trust-based estate plan is the only way to avoid the probate process after your passing. Most attorneys lack the specialized experience necessary to set up trusts, but our knowledgeable team understands the intricacies of trust-based planning.
- Powers of attorney: You might become incapacitated for some period of time at least once before you pass away. It’s important to ensure that people you trust can step in and make important decisions for you when you can’t, including directing your medical care and making financial transactions for your family.
Your family having to deal with unnecessary estate planning items that you didn’t take care of is a really big deal.
We Make Estate Planning Easy for You and Your Family
At Evans & Davis, we’re committed to helping our clients preserve their family legacies. With our professional guidance, you can ensure your family has as little on their plate as possible while grieving your loss.
Your estate planning attorney can save a lot of future headaches and stress for you and your family. We pride ourselves on forming ongoing relationships with our clients, ensuring that you have a full, comprehensive estate plan that we can help adjust to whatever life throws your way.
Contact us online today to schedule a free consultation with our trusted estate planning team.
