Estate planning is oftentimes a neglected task in today’s busy society. However, anyone in New York and elsewhere who owns assets can benefit from putting together wills or trusts. Here are a couple of hurdles that keep people from creating estate plans and how to overcome them.
First, many people feel that estate planning is not for them, as they are not super rich. However, the truth is that people often do not realize how much they truly own until they sit down and write it all out. For instance, they may have household possessions, a home, savings accounts, investments, retirement accounts, a family business and motor vehicles, just to name a few. All of these assets are worth protecting by creating a detailed estate plan.
Second, some people are convinced that they need estate plans but feel that setting them up is too complicated. After all, drawing up wills, naming beneficiaries and creating power of attorney documents may appear to be a laborious process. Fortunately, an attorney can help to make this process easy.
Asset owners can simply sit down with an attorney in New York and explain to the attorney what they would like to achieve through estate planning. They can also ask questions regarding what each estate planning document means. Many wills, trusts and other estate planning documents can easily be produced in just a couple of meetings. The attorney’s ultimate goal is to put together comprehensive estate plans that will best protect his or her client’s assets and best wishes in the long run.