5 Important Parts of Estate Planning You Should Go Over

Posted by Lakes, Whyte LLP on April 27th, 2021

Estate planning is one of the most important things that you can do while alive to preserve your legacy. We don’t know when we will leave this earth. The future is not always guaranteed. Wouldn’t you want to be prepared for it and secure your loved ones rather than have to worry about the “what ifs”?

One of the things that you can do to be prepared is to do estate planning. Here are the important parts of estate planning and what you should do:

1.  Drafting a will

The first part of your estate planning is to draft a will. Dying intestate or without a will can cause your estate to go through the probate process. Your properties and assets will then be distributed based on the law of succession.

Without a will, your loved ones might not get their inheritance right away. A will can help you plan how the distribution of inheritance will go so that it prevents disputes later on.

2. Health care proxy

You should not just prepare for death. You should also prepare for end-of-life. What happens if you become terminally ill or suffer from mental illness that will prevent you from making decisions for yourself? This is why you need to have a living will, which is also known as a health care proxy. You can make stipulations on what needs to be done when you are incapable of deciding for yourself and appoint someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.

3. Living trust

Creating a trust is one way of deflecting some of the costs of estate taxes. This can be done with the help of law firms in Vancouver. You can put some of your assets and properties in a living trust. Your estate lawyer can help you out with this and help you determine which of your assets you can put in a trust.

4. Power of attorney

Another thing that you should include in your estate plan is a power of attorney. When it becomes difficult for you to manage your assets later in life, there should be someone who will do it on your behalf. This person can make bank and business transactions on your behalf, so be sure to choose a trusted individual to do the job.

5. Life insurance

Do you have life insurance? This will ensure that your family loved ones are secure even in the event of an untimely death. Make sure your beneficiaries in your life insurance policies are updated.

Make sure you know all the aspects of estate planning. Get the help of law firms in Vancouver to ensure that you cover all grounds.

Look for reputable Vancouver law firms such as Lakes, Whyte LLP to help you with understanding your needs in estate planning and execute it properly. You can go back to law firms in Vancouver in case you need to update your estate plan.

Nikolas Lowry is the author of this article. To know more about North Vancouver Real Estate Lawyer please visit our website: lakeswhyte.com