Many people look at financial planning, such as estate planning, and think it is all about what happens to a person’s assets after they pass away. While this is partly true, estate planning is also helpful while a person is still alive. To understand the full scope of estate planning, one must consult with an Estate Planning Attorney in Gonzales LA.
End of Life Affairs
Determining which friends or family members or what charitable organization gets a person’s assets after they have passed away is important. It will also be important to try and shelter assets from the dreaded estate tax imposed by the federal government, especially if a person’s estate is significantly high. It will also be important to talk to an attorney about designating an executor of the estate once the owner of the estate has passed away. However, as stated earlier, proper estate planning can also be important while a person is still alive.
Estate Plans for the Living
In the event a person receives a grim prognosis from their doctor and they have only a limited amount of time to live, that person can enact an estate plan to start dividing up assets before they die. This can help the beneficiaries to avoid paying taxes on financial gifts by giving them away while the estate owner is still alive.
In addition to avoiding taxes, if a person’s physical or mental condition deteriorates to the point where they can’t handle their own medical or financial decisions, a comprehensive estate plan will come in handy. A detailed estate plan is likely to have named a person as the one that can take over if the estate owner is unable to make important medical or financial decisions for themselves.
With as important as estate planning can be for when a person dies and when the estate owner is nearing the end of their lives, these issues are serious enough to warrant speaking to an Estate Planning Attorney in Gonzales LA. Whether your estate is large or you have a standard amount of assets that you hope will be disseminated to your benefactors, this issue deserves proper attention. To learn more about these and other estate planning issues, you may want to visit us for more information.
