A lot of people procrastinate when it comes to estate planning, and there are many reasons for this but one of them is the simple fact that they don’t know where to start. When you think about cleaning out the garage or the basement one of the reasons why it may wind up on the back burner is not because you don’t want to do it, but because getting started seems like such a daunting task. It’s even more difficult when it comes to estate planning because not only don’t you know where to start but you also don’t necessarily know what to do.
For many people the best course of action would be to consult with an estate planning attorney from the outset. Estate planning can get extremely complex depending on the size and scope of your resources. There are many ways to transfer assets and how best to do so will vary depending on the specifics of your estate and the unique dynamic of your family.
Elder law attorneys traverse these waters every day and over the course of their careers they have seen countless different situations, and as we all know experience is the best teacher.
However, you can be proactive and lay some of the groundwork before actually getting together with your estate planning attorney. It would be a good idea to inventory your assets and gain some clarity with regard to who your heirs are going to be and exactly what it is that you would like to leave to each of them.
You may also want to consider the larger part of your legacy and consider things like charitable giving and possibly crafting your estate to encourage your loved ones toward reaching their maximum potential as individuals. Once you have a general idea of what you would like to achieve your estate planning attorney will be able to use his or her experience and expertise to make that vision a reality.
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