If you are getting your life in order and preparing to take care of both your assets and the people you love and care for, then it is a good idea to seek legal advice on wills and trusts. It makes financial sense to create a plan and provide documentation to ensure your assets are distributed the way you prefer.
If you are not married or have been in a civil union, but want to leave your property to your partner, or want to specify specific keepsakes to be yours, you will need to write this down. The law will distribute your assets according to who your next of kin is by law if you have not provided information to substitute this. It is important to ensure that you have provided for your partner in this eventuality.
Alternatively, if you have been married or in a civil union and are no longer married, you may want to indicate that your previous partner receives nothing, or less than they would have received before.
It can also help protect your assets from additional taxes and costs, leaving the people to whom they are transferred in a better financial position.
Even if you are married or in a civil union with no children, and everything seems straightforward, you may still need legal advice on wills and trusts. Your disbursement of assets can be challenged and legal proceedings can wipe out your assets and extend the time before assets are transferred from your estate to the people or organizations to whom you would have passed them.
For some, estate planning is not just about writing a will, but also about setting up a trust that can care for assets regardless of your health in later years, and protect your interests and those of your family from others who may have influence over the will. result. This may include former married or civil union partners of your offspring.
We can spend our lives accumulating our assets and creating something out of what we were given, whether it be our own heritage or the education and inspiration of people who have influenced us. Protecting everything you’ve built so that the next generation can expand and/or pass it down again is an excellent reason to seek legal advice on wills and trusts. Your assets and loved ones will benefit.