Your estate consists of all the property you own, whatever it is worth, and wherever it is located. Planning involves a systematic development and updating of goals, policies, and procedures. Therefore, estate planning is the systematic development and updating of goals, policies, and procedures for all of the property you own, whatever it is worth, and wherever it is located. However, estate planning isn't truly about things. It's about people. At the heart of estate planning, people aren't as concerned about what happens to their assets, they are more concerned about what will happen to their family.

Proper estate planning allows you to:
Preserve your estate for your loved one and stay in control for as long as possible;
Direct who is going to receive your estate, including when and how much your beneficiaries will receive; and,
Accomplish all of the while avoiding unnecessary taxes, fees and commissions.

Even if you do nothing you have an estate plan, just not a very good one. According to one author, over half of the adult population as opted for this approach and done nothing. By not creating your own plan you simply force the legal system to distribute your wealth. Every state has statutes on how to distribute property when a person dies “intestate”. This is the technical term for dying without a will.

The question then, is not whether you will have an estate plan, but whether you will have a cost effective estate plan of your own selection, or a costly estate plan imposed upon you by law.

So what kind of estate planning documents should you put into place?

An individual’s wishes are most frequently drafted in the form of a will. You can also outline your desires in a trust. Using the The Will and Trust Company, LLC, the first few questions in our online interview determine which documents are appropriate given your unique circumstances. You will fall into one of three general categories - estate plan built around a revocable living trust, estate plan built around a simple will, or an estate plan built around Powers of Attorney.

1) When you own real estate = Trust based plan.
2) When you do not own real property, but have minor children = Will based plan.
3) When you do not own real property, have no minor children, and little or no financial assets = Powers of Attorney based plan.

In addition to their core document, every will or trust plan will include: financial power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, healthcare directives, and a HIPAA release form.

The first few questions in the online interview, the attorney assigned to your estate plan determines the type of documents that are required.

If you are wondering what type of planning may be right for you, click below for a free analysis.