Everyone wants to make sure their family will be cared for after they die, but many people incorrectly believe that estate planning is only for the incredibly wealthy.
In fact, you don’t need to own individual stocks, bonds, or multiple businesses in order to want to put an estate plan into place.
Here, we’re going to explain what estate planning is, and how our McHenry, Illinois team at Diamond Estate Planning can help you create the perfect PLAN for you and your loved ones.
That’s where Diamond Estate Planning comes in.
Estate planning is the process of creating an easy way for your spouse or loved ones to deal with your passing or becoming incapacitated. We want to make sure your kids, your property, and your legacy go to the loved ones you want.
If you don’t have a plan for your kids and your stuff, then the state of Illinois will create one for you.
But a good estate plan can keep you in control and make sure your wishes are protected.
And you probably want a say in what happens to those things after you die. You want to decide who will receive all these assets, what exactly they should receive, and when they should receive it.
Making note of those wishes and organizing them into a concrete plan is estate planning. It will give you peace of mind knowing that your family will be taken care of, no matter what happens in the future – including the unexpected.
A living will is a document that tells your healthcare provider (or hospital) your end-of-life medical care if you become unable to communicate. For example, a living will clarifies whether you want to be on life support, etc.
A good estate plan and organizing everything in a good trust can protect assets from family disputes.
As a professional, you have a lot of personal exposure because of the possibility of malpractice claims. For many professional licenses, you can never get rid of your liability for negligence or malpractice. If you have a claim that is either declined by your professional malpractice insurance or that exceeds the limits, a good estate plan can protect your assets. Things like a land trust with a bank or title company can keep your name out of the public records for your home.
We create trusts that avoid probate (the process of your family going to court after you die). Our trusts clearly explain your wishes to your family and set up protections for minor children and family members on government assistance. Trusts can also direct your family to make charitable donations to causes you care about. Additionally, a trust can make sure specific items (like your grandmother’s wedding ring, a Gutenberg bible, your grandfather’s flag, the vintage Mustang) go to who you want to have them. A trust can spell out your wishes regarding who you want to take care of your children, and even your wishes for your pets. (Because we want to help you make sure Rover still gets his rubber Wall Street Journal every morning!)
Wills spell out your wishes to your family. Like trusts, wills can make clear who you want to inherit what, as well as explaining your wishes for your children and your pets. Unlike trusts, however, your family still has to go to court after you die to access your money and distribute your property the way you wanted them to. Your will also becomes public record, whereas a trust does not.
Diamond Estate Planning can help with wealth preservation by making sure that when someone dies or becomes disabled, proper contingencies are in place. That way, you can control what will happen to your wealth and avoid possible loss or unnecessary legal expenses.
A power of attorney designates a person you trust to make health care or financial decisions for you if you can’t do them yourself. You also designate additional, backup people to step in if you first choice is unavailable. There are multiple types of POAs.
It’s important to note that these arrangements only work when you are alive. If you are your grandmother’s power of attorney and she passes away, you cannot do anything with her property (bank accounts, investment accounts and real estate) without either probating an estate or using a trust that she set up when she was alive.
Parents can set up a health care power of attorney for their children, giving someone other than themselves permission to take the child to the doctor or emergency room. One example could be if you are out of town for a long weekend or a long vacation without your child, or if your child is with a babysitter and you cannot get to the hospital or doctor to get them prompt treatment.
Our estate planning team has kids (and grandkids!) of our own, so we know how important they are, as well as how hard it is to plan for everything. We don’t want to make you feel anxious about the future. Instead, when you finish signing your documents, you’ll feel good about the plan you’ve put into place.
And we understand that the majority of our clients are not excited to think about dying, but we also know how important it is for you to do this for your children. That’s why we try to make the process as painless and as streamlined as possible.
We have a wide network of attorneys with a wide variety of knowledge, which is why the work that we do for you will even help prepare you for the unexpected. We take a team approach to make sure that all the details are correct, ensuring that multiple people understand your file and your needs so you don’t end up waiting endlessly for one attorney who’s stuck in court to call you back.
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