How To Plan Your Estate So Your Family Is Provided For: Our Practical Guide
We begin our lives with nothing, but we always leave something behind. Our estate, no matter how large or small, needs to be accounted for and a plan needs to be in place to administer it. Many people fail to take estate planning seriously and leave behind a mess that bereaved families have to deal with. Do not let your passing become a burden on the loved ones you leave behind. Plan your estate and ensure your final wishes are followed and your family is provided for.
Research Funeral Homes
There are many things to plan when you are making preparations for the future. One of the most important is finding a suitable funeral home for your celebration of life service. It will give you a lot of peace of mind knowing that your burial or cremation will be handled by an experienced and compassionate funeral home that will honor your plans and take care of your family.
Ingram Funeral Home is a family-run funeral and cremation service that can help you to pre-plan your funeral and offer grief support for family members. The experience and compassion of the team assist you as you prepare your celebration of life service and your obituary. Their care and professional service ensure that your wishes will be followed, and your family will be supported after you have departed.
This level of service from a funeral home helps you to make end-of-life preparations with confidence. By delegating tasks and responsibilities to a funeral home, you ease the burden on your family and loved ones after passing.
Do A Full Home Inventory
Before you can begin planning your estate, you need to itemize it. Without knowing exactly what you have you cannot plan what to do with it. There are many different components of a person’s estate and one of them is their possessions. You need to create a list of all your valuables, from jewelry and electronics.
Even if you do not plan to pass something on or donate it to a good cause, it still needs a plan. If something is to be thrown away or recycled, make that clear in your estate planning too. Most of your possessions in and around the home will fall into three categories; pass on, donate, or throw away.
When you are forming your list you can filter items into one of these three categories so you start planning right away. You can always change your mind later, or leave a decision open until you have thought more about it. It can be time-consuming but doing this will help form the framework of your estate plan.
Follow Up With Your Finances
Once you have sorted through your possessions, or at least all the important ones, it is time to do a financial inventory. This can be complicated, and difficult to do if you haven’t done much financial planning or budgeting before. There are many things to consider, including any debt you owe and any tax liabilities you may have.
Collect your important documents together and make a summary of the information. You need to include all bank accounts, 401(k)s, life insurance policies, IRAs, and any other savings accounts. Long-term financial responsibilities like mortgage payments, credit card debts, and vehicle financing or leasing also need to be included and their financial liabilities should be planned for using other assets in your estate.
When you summarize the information include contact information for the companies involved, account numbers, and the location of any physical or digital documents. These documents should be kept somewhere secure, and digital documents should be backed up on a flash drive.
Choose A Responsible Administrator For Your Estate
This choice may be simple to make. Your legal partner or spouse can is an obvious choice, or your eldest adult child. Sometimes it can be a better idea to choose someone who is close to you and responsible, but not a close family member. Doing this helps ease the burden on your family after your passing, and removes the potential for conflict between your family members over your decision.
The person you choose should be a responsible adult in a stable mental state who you can rely upon to follow your plans diligently and offer your loved ones support in their grief. You may want to discuss these plans with your nominated administrator ahead of time, though this can be difficult to do for both of you.
With proper estate planning their job should be relatively easy. With your physical and financial assets accounted for, and instructions in place for your celebration of life service and burial or cremation, all the main bases are covered. They can administrate your estate by following the instructions you leave them.
Complete Your Will
Once the different stages of planning are complete, and you have a complete list of assets and a nominated administrator, your need to finalize your plans and complete a will. You may be required to plan a will with an attorney or legal representative in some states, so check your local laws.
Even if you can complete a will yourself you should opt to work with an experienced estate planning lawyer instead. Your estate’s financial planning can be complicated, especially when planning for tax liabilities. With the help of an expert, you can manage your end-of-life financial obligations and get as much of your estate’s assets to your loved ones as possible.
If you do not have a will in place the government may decide how your estate is administered after your passing. This can often cause additional distress to your family. Completing a legal will, even with a small estate, can help ease the burden placed on your loved ones and allow them to grieve.
Every adult should have an estate plan in place, even if they are not a parent. You are never too young to begin estate planning and you can update your plan as your life changes and your assets grow. Consider making funeral plans and writing a will soon to make sure you provide for your family when you leave this world.
