Leaving aside a legacy and an inheritance for your loved ones is common practice, and especially in light of how much is expected to transfer to other generations in the coming years, it is important to keep your loved ones on board with your decisions.
What to Cover in an Estate Planning Conversation
While you don’t need to go into great detail about every aspect of your estate planning considerations, it’s valuable to discuss what it means to get an inheritance and to set up some expectations with your loved ones. One of the first is to discuss the fact that settling an estate can be a significant task. Even if your affairs are in order, it can be very difficult to transfer assets quickly.
If there are assets inside your probate estate, distributions cannot be made until debts and creditors are paid off, including taxes. There are other potential challenges that may emerge along the way if a substantial portion of your estate is in probate. One common example is if another party to receive assets in the estate alleges that the will is not valid. The additional time taken to resolve this issue can slow down the distribution of probate.
Streamlining Your Estate Planning with a Lawyer’s Help
Even when an estate is fairly organized, settling an estate can take several months, and in many cases, it may take years. This helps set up a clear expectation with your loved ones of how they’ll receive their distributions and a potential timeline. If you have established other estate planning means, such as a trust, you may inform your loved ones about any different timetables that may apply based on your situation. Your MA estate planning lawyer can assist you with covering all the bases.
You may have specific intentions that you wish your loved ones to consider when taking an inheritance, such as keeping a valuable collection intact or using the money for specific purposes, like education.
However, outside of using a trust in which a trustee is responsible for handling these distributions and meeting the conditions, it can be challenging to enforce this.
If you need help to set up your own estate plan, contact our office today.
