Avoid These 12 Common Estate Planning Mistakes

Estate planning is a crucial determinant for what the future will look like for your hard-earned assets and beloved friends and family. Avoiding common mistakes can put you in the best position to craft a smart, strategic and deliberate estate plan that will endure long after you’re gone. For optimal peace of mind, watch out for these pitfalls. Make sure to speak with an experienced St. Louis estate planning lawyer from TdD Attorneys at Law.

Not Discussing Your Plan With Loved Ones

You don’t want to blindside your loved ones by making them a key part of your estate plan – such as beneficiaries, trustees and powers of attorney – without giving them some forewarning. Save your family stress and worry by communicating your intentions to those involved.

Naming Only One Beneficiary

Naming beneficiaries is an important part of any estate plan. Only assigning a single person to this role, however, can set you up for failure. If something happens to the beneficiary, your estate will be subject to probate. You need to include contingent beneficiaries in addition to the primary to be safe.

Choosing the Wrong Trustee or Executor

Be careful, selective and intentional in your choices of trustees and executors of your estate. Choosing the wrong individuals can lead to family conflicts, expensive legal battles and estate mismanagement.

Not Funding a Living Trust

A living trust can be a great asset to your estate plan – but only if it’s properly funded. Failing to fund a living trust can lead to probate court intervention, financial disputes and lost assets.

Ignoring Tax Planning

One of your estate planning goals should be to pass as much of your wealth down to your loved ones as possible. You can avoid excessive taxation by considering future tax consequences together with a St. Louis estate tax planning attorney.

Neglecting Owned Businesses

Business ventures have an entirely different set of rules compared to personal property when it comes to transferring ownership. It is critical to structure your business properly to protect it from creditors, excessive taxation and ownership disputes.

Forgetting to Plan for Incapacity (Not Just Death)

Too many people only focus on after-death instructions in their estate plans; they neglect to include provisions for becoming incapacitated. It’s important to plan for both possibilities to make sure your estate is prepared for anything.

Failing to Include Funeral Preparations

You can prevent your family from having to shoulder the burden of planning your funeral, memorial, burial or cremation while mourning your death by including these provisions in your estate plan yourself.

Updating Your Estate Plan Too Infrequently (Or Not at All)

A cardinal mistake in estate planning is working on the plan one time, then never looking at it again. Estate plans should grow and change with your life. As your estate, assets, plans and family change, so should your estate plan. Update it after major life events, such as a marriage, death or birth in the family, and at least every five years otherwise.

Concealing Your Estate Planning Documents

It is a good idea to keep the location of your estate planning documents under wraps to prevent anyone from being able to tamper with them. However, it’s important to allow a select few trusted individuals (such as those included in your estate plan) to know where these legal documents are being held or secured.

Waiting to Plan Your Estate

There’s no time like the present when it comes to estate planning. No one is promised tomorrow. The last thing you want for your loved ones is for them to have to figure out your estate after you’re gone, including going through probate, because you procrastinated. Don’t wait – start today.

Choosing Not to Involve an Experienced Estate Planning Lawyer

Modern-day estate planning is much more than just drafting a Last Will. Many key documents are necessary if you wish to have control over the future of your estate. Don’t make the grave error of handling your estate plan alone. Contact the estate planning lawyers at TdD Attorneys at Law for tailored legal services.