Are you wondering whether or not you need an estate plan? If so, Please take a moment to answer the following questions:
1. Has it been more than one year since you reviewed your estate plan?
2. If you or your spouse passed away today, are you uncertain about what would happen to your assets?
3. Does your will leave property to someone other than your spouse?
4. Do you have minor children or other people who are dependent on you? If you were not here to provide for them, would they be in financial trouble?
5. If a death occurred and court approval was required to release accounts for working capital, could it disrupt the business or overall family financial well-being?
6. If you became incapacitated, would you or your family have to go through court proceedings to carry on your affairs?
7. Do you have children by a previous marriage?
8. Could your business cause liability due to contract or an accident?
9. Do you own assets in your sole name?
10. Is anyone other than your present spouse listed as beneficiary on any life insurance policy or account?
11. Would you like to avoid probate of your estate?
12. May the total value of you and your spouse’s assets exceed $1 million at any time between now and 2011? (Include life insurance, pensions, real estate, and any other assets and consider inflation and growth in your calculations.)
13. Do you plan to gift any property prior to your death?
14. If your current plan of distribution was followed, would assets have to be sold to pay expenses?
15. Are any members of your family unsure about their economic future in a family business?
16. Do you own any property which has substantially increased in value since you originally acquired it, or which has been depreciated for income tax purposes?
17. Would potential nursing home expenses create a hardship for your family?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you may be in need of estate planning. There are a number of estate planning options available for most people. They include Wills, Revocable Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Probate avoidance. Our estate planning attorneys will recommend which option is best of you and can help you formulate and finalize your estate plan. Please review the following information to obtain more information:
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