Bloomfield Hills Estate Planning Attorney Prioritizes Details in Estate Planning
With the baby boomers aging, the largest amount of wealth in history is passing from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, people are procrastinating on their estate planning until it's too late.
Over at the greenbaypressgazette.com, they have an interesting article that discusses how to prioritize the details in estate planning which you can read here: "Guest column: Tim Cisler Prioritize details in estate planning."
From the point of view of a Michigan estate planning attorney, there are a couple key points that I would like to reinforce from the article.
First, don't underestimate the value of your assets. Sure the economy is down, that said, your estate could include your residence, your retirement accounts, your savings, and possibly your life insurance. Add all those pieces up and you may be surprised at the value. Regardless of the size, you most likely would want to protect those assets from needless expenses, for example the expense of opening a Michigan probate.
The next key point is to keep your beneficiaries designations updated on your assets, including life insurance, retirement accounts, deeds to property. Just because it made sense at one point to name a family member the beneficiary of the IRA, doesn't mean now or in the future it would make more sense to name the living trust the beneficiary.
Lastly, know the difference between a probate estate and a trust. People think that just because they have a Michigan Will, they will avoid the Michigan probate system. Not true, a Michigan Last Will and Testament is your ticket to the Michigan probate system. If you want to avoid a Michigan Probate, then a living trust would be a better option.
Christopher J. Berry, Esq., A Bloomfield Hills Wills and Living Trust Attorney, is a Partner with The Law Offices of Witzke Berry PLLC, which practices in the areas of Bloomfield Hills Estate Planning, Bloomfield Hills Medicaid Planning, and Bloomfield Hills Probate Litigation, serving Metro-Detroit and Oakland County, Macomb County, and Wayne County. We can be reached at 248-971-1700.