Top Five Estate Planning Mistakes

Your estate plan may very well be the most important set of documents you create during your lifetime. With that in mind it certainly makes sense to do everything possible to avoid making mistakes within the plan or during the planning stage. The best way to avoid making a mistake with your estate plan is to work closely with an experienced Missouri estate planning attorney. It may also help to keep the following top five estate planning mistakes in mind throughout the planning process and beyond.

1. Waiting too long to start your plan. The single biggest estate planning mistake people make is waiting too long to create an estate plan. Common excuses not creating a plan include “I’m too young to need an estate plan” and “I don’t have enough money to need an estate plan.” The reality is that every adult needs an estate plan. You cannot be too young for an estate plan because the reality is that death or incapacity can strike at any age. Moreover, while the usefulness of an estate plan may increase as your net worth increases, your net worth does not determine your need for an estate plan. Estate planning is about much more than simply distributing your estate assets when you die, making the value of your estate unimportant when considering the need for a plan.2. Failing to create a comprehensive plan.Your estate plan should include a wide variety of components, such as incapacity planning, retirement planning, and tax and probate avoidance planning. Just as all of the various aspects of your life are interrelated, all of the components of an estate plan are also interrelated. Your plans for long-term care, for example, will directly impact your retirement plans, your need for Medicaid planning, and potentially your incapacity plan. Creating one big comprehensive plan helps ensure that the individual parts will all function individually as well as together.

3. Going the DIY route. It may be tempting to DIY your estate plan; however, do not give in to that temptation. Much of your estate plan will not actually be put to the test until you are gone, and therefore unable to correct any mistakes in the plan. For this reason alone is should be obvious why you should work with a professional when creating your estate plan. Leave the DIY projects for the garden or the craft room.

4. Having unrealistic expectations. Estate planning involves making a number of important, albeit sometimes difficult, decisions. When you contemplate those decisions it is imperative that you have realistic expectations or your decisions will lead to failure of your plan. You may, for instance, be madly in love with your spouse; however, is he/she really the best person to be the Executor of your estate?

5. Forgetting your plan once it is in place.Once you create your estate plan you can’t simply walk away and forget it. On the contrary, our plan should be routinely reviewed every three to five years until retirement age and then every five to eight years thereafter. Furthermore, important events, such as a birth, death, marriage, or divorce should also prompt you to review your plan and make any necessary changes.

If you have additional questions or concerns about your estate plan, contact the experienced Missouri estate planning attorneys at Amen, Gantner & Capriano, Your Estate Matters, LLC by calling (314) 966-8077 to schedule an appointment.