Estate Planning
The basics of an estate plan include a will, perhaps a trust, and designation of beneficiaries and a trustee or executor. Estate planning can be simple or very complex, depending on your wishes and the complexity of your assets and beneficiaries.
If you don't plan out how you want your legacy to be handled, and implement the proper legal forms to make it happen at your death, then the state or country in which you live will distribute it for you, based on their rules. Letting that happen can cause issues.
Information for you.
You are the 'grantor', the one with the estate.
- What Happens if you Die Today? Estate Planning Basics I: Overview
- What Happens if you Die Today? Estate Planning Basics II: Wills
- What Happens if you Die Today? Estate Planning Basics III: Trusts
- Test Your Own Estate Plan
- Avoid Probate Fights - How to Plan for and Settle Unequal Estate Bequests
- Help Your Executor NOW, Before You Die - 6 Essential To-Dos
- Will Your Family Business Survive You?
- Seven Things You Can Do Now for Your Future Heirs
Information for Your Executor
The executor (or trustee) makes sure your estate plan is carried out. If you are an executor or trustee, you might need to do some exploration with the grantor, to make your job easier later.
You, as the executor or trustee, may also become the default person to handle pre-death and funeral arrangements.
Of course, you, as executor or trustee will need to handle the distribution of the estate, a rather thankless job and sometimes a difficult one.
Heir Preparation
All of the estate planning in the world won't do any good if your beneficiaries are not ready for your financial legacy.
- Five Ways to Prepare Your Heir to Inherit Your Estate
- Wealth Management Programs Train Next Generations of Ultra Rich
- Teach Your Kid to Be an Entrepreneur
- Life's Little Frustrations
- Teach your heirs about money
Want even more information about preparing your heirs? These posts are more in depth, including posts describing the camp I hold each summer for my grand-kids to help train them in wise ways with money - Grandma Rie's Money Camp
Family Optimization
Of the three big areas involved in avoiding "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" family can be the most important and the hardest to handle.