What Estate Planning Means

Answer:

As an accomplished Delaware County Trust Lawyer, I get questions all the time from clients about what estate planning is.

When people think about estate planning, I think they first think about just property being disposed of during a last will and testament. But the focus should also be on disposition of property that’s not disposable under the will, such as life insurance, possibly a qualified plan, an IRA, and things of that nature.

One thing we do when we’re doing estate planning is make sure all a person’s assets are disposed of properly. This means not only that the property gets to the right people, but it gets to them in the right way. It may also mean making sure that people you don’t want to get your property don’t inherit.

In addition, there’s the aspect of what happens if you can’t handle your own affairs while you’re still alive. We call this living probate. It may involve having a proper general power of attorney as well as a medical power of attorney.

When we’re talking about estate planning, we’re really talking about many things, possibly to include reducing the cost of dying. People think of the death tax, but we also want to make sure the process runs smoothly so that there aren’t any costs because of family disagreements when the estate is settled.

This educational blog was brought to you by experienced Trust Attorney Edward L. Perkins. Our law firm proudly represents clients throughout Delaware County, as well as Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

If you have any questions about estate planning, please contact our Delaware County Trust Lawyers for a free case evaluation. Let our experience work for you.