Questions To Ask Yourself While Planning Your Estate

Making plans for your estate can be a sobering undertaking. Choosing who will get your belongings and other similar decisions can be challenging and stressful. In fact, you may become so emotional during estate planning that you may overlook key actions you should take in order to keep your loved ones and family out of probate court when you've passed on. Ask yourself the questions below to be confident that you're doing everything possible to protect your family after your death.

What Debts Do I Have?

You might not be aware of this, but your current debts could end up sending your family right into probate court later. For instance, you may put into your will that you would like your daughter to have your car. Creditors may be able to block that in court and seek to have the car sold to pay your debts off.

To save your belongings and loved ones from this kind of intrusion, make every effort to pay your creditors now.

Who is the Beneficiary Listed on My Accounts?

If you have a spouse or children, it seems natural that you would list at least one of them as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy or retirement account. However, you should be clear about who your beneficiaries are. Avoid making the mistake of omitting names on these documents because you assume that those listed will share with everyone else. There may in fact be a spirited dispute that lands the entire family in probate proceedings.

To avoid that, be sure to name every beneficiary specifically on your policies and accounts.

Do I have Joint Ownership of Any Property?

Another challenge that is often presented in probate court is lack of joint ownership documents. You might, for example, own a small business with your best friend. After you pass away, your best friend may think they own the entire business, even though you have made it known that you want your child to step in and have the rights to your portion. Without a joint ownership document in place, probate court is the place where your child and your friend will have to solve that dispute.

Have joint ownership papers in place so that whoever is to get your portion or a business or a property can take ownership without a problem.

Who Have I Talked to About My Estate Planning?

You may hope to avoid uncomfortable conversations about your plans for your accounts and money. However, if you don't mention estate planning to anyone before your death,  it is possible that your loved ones will add shock to a roster of feelings that already includes disappointment and grief. If they feel entitled to some of your things, they may very well take other family members or friends into probate court.

Take some time and have difficult conversations so that your loved ones have some idea of what will happen. This can give them the opportunity to ask you questions and hopefully you will be able to cope with any bad feelings while you are still alive.

Once you settle the questions in this article, you can help your loved ones to avoid probate issues when you are no longer with them. Talk to an expert in probate law at a firm like Flaccus Law to ensure you have done everything necessary.