Founder and Managing Partner of TriAmicus Law, PLLC, Mital D. Patel, recently interviewed fellow estate planning attorney, Julie D. Eisenhower, about the importance of creating an estate plan in the new year:
MP: Why should creating an estate plan be an important new year goal?
JE: An estate plan is essential for passing a legacy, capturing intention, and controlling how and who will receive your assets. Without creating an estate plan, you let a court and other people make important decisions regarding your assets and who receives those assets. Why allow that to happen when you can control all these decisions with an effective estate plan?
MP: What would you consider to be an estate plan?
JE: A basic estate plan should include a last will and testament, a financial power of attorney, and a health care advance directive. These documents direct the distribution and settlement of your estate and who you select to speak on your behalf regarding financial matters and important medical decisions. An estate planning attorney can assess whether a trust would be appropriate for a client's needs and goals. The attorney can guide the client through selecting the appropriate types of trusts to implement in the client's estate plan. Business ownership or partnership interests, home ownership, and minor children are just a few of the considerations that an attorney will evaluate when guiding a client in creating the estate plan.
MP: Should someone consider a review of their current estate plan in the new year?
JE: Reviewing your current estate plan is essential to ensuring your estate plan remains valid under the laws and that it continues to capture your intentions for your assets and important decisions. If you experienced a milestone in the past year like a birth of a child, a divorce, a death, it is always important to have an attorney review your estate plan to make sure that changes to the plan are correct. Laws change as we have seen with recent changes to tax laws. With the passage of time, monumental events, and new laws, it is always recommended that one consider having an attorney review a current estate plan.
TriAmicus Law, PLLC is a general practice firm with attorneys helping clients in a variety of practice areas and legal needs. We wish you a very happy New Year and cheers to 2022!
