Initial Phases of Estate Planning
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The laws in your state or a lawyer may be the luckiest beneficiaries if you die without a solid estate plan. Estate planning is necessary to avoid unnecessary legal hurdles and high taxes that can erode your assets and affairs. A proper estate planning doesn't require you to spend that much and it places you in total control when it comes to dividing your assets. Besides saving dollars and giving appropriate money to your family, it gives you control from the grave on the disposition of your items. You can visit at this website for more great tips!
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When setting up an estate planning, one must need to have a checklist. The very first item on the list should be the assessment of all your assets. Identifying the type of ownership of all the assets on the list is a must. For example, if you have a property in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, the owner of the joint receives the property when you die. There are many married couples who own their homes and some amount of items together. Tenancy by the entirety is the normal kind of ownership.
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You must also list the life insurance policies you own. Keep in mind to include the beneficiary of the policies for your estate planning checklist - face value, ownership of each policy and cash value needs to be listed as well. Life insurance is part of your state, thus, these all become important for larger estates.
Listing all other assets such as vehicles bank accounts, personal and real properties should also be prioritized. Remember to include the name of the institution that holds the asset and your account number. Moreover, part of the checklist are annuities, retirement plans, and pension plans. Although these items aren't included in your will, they are part of your estate - this increases the value of your estate.
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Estate planning not only provides convenience for the transfer, but it gives you more solid control on the disposition of assets. It is also a way to reduce federal and estate taxes when used correctly.
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It doesn't matter how huge or small is your estate, it's always best to do estate planning. The first steps of estate planning and filling out a checklist can be a bit overwhelming and can take a while, but once you have set up an estate plan, you'll discover that it's really easy to update and modify every three or five years if you make certain changes.