When Should You Start Estate Planning?
Why You Should Start Estate Planning Now With the Help of Our St. Petersburg Law Firm
The fact of the matter is that it’s never too early to start planning your estate. It’s a common misconception that it’s only for people approaching old age or those who already have a significant amount of wealth that they’re looking to pass on to future generations. In reality, even younger people stand to benefit from getting an early start on estate planning.
Because of the high-value and emotionally charged nature of estate planning, we highly recommend contacting a local professional for assistance instead of opting for DIY websites that, chances are, won’t give you everything you need. If you’re looking to start estate planning in the St. Petersburg and Tampa area, then we highly suggest that you give us a call to review your estate plan.
Start Estate Planning as Soon as Possible
Even if you’re young or don’t happen to be particularly wealthy, there are still a host of reasons to start estate planning as soon as possible. After all, there are more benefits to estate planning than the financial security it offers you and your family. For example, incapacitating medical emergencies can happen at any age, and a living will or healthcare directive can help ensure that you get the treatment that you want and need should you end up unable to communicate or care for yourself.
Estate Planning for Young People
For those in their twenties and thirties, even a simple estate plan can help offset burdensome burial and funeral costs during an already stressful time. If you start estate planning early, you’ll have that much less work to do later, too. While it’s important to regularly update your estate plan in response to changing laws and life events, setting the foundation now prepares you for the unexpected and helps you make more informed choices with your plan as you grow older.
Estate Planning After the Birth of a Child
There are other life events besides birthdays that should inspire you to update your estate plan or to start estate planning now if you haven’t already. The most obvious of these is childbirth. Estate planning helps to secure your children’s future with a two-pronged approach. First, it makes transferring your money and property to your heirs easier by bypassing probate court, and second, by allowing you to appoint your chosen guardian for your children instead of letting the state decide in your absence.
Estate Planning After Major Events
Another good time to start planning your estate is after getting married. It’s a serious commitment with life-long implications for your assets, and chances are that you’ll want a strategy that works with any plans that your spouse has in place, too. You should also consider estate planning if you’ve recently purchased a home or otherwise acquired significant assets or wealth that you’d like to protect well into the future.
Updating Your Plan as You Approach Middle Age
An estate plan is almost useless if you fail to update it as your life (and the law) changes. As important as it is, it can be an easy thing to forget about. Try to make it a point to update or start your estate plan in your 40s, as chances are that your financial situation has radically changed since you were a younger adult without as much to your name. You probably have different people in your life, too, which means it might be time to reconsider who would take on guardianship of your children, or even yourself should you become incapacitated.
Estate Planning in Your 50s and 60s
The kind of estate planning that you’ll do in your 50s, 60s, and beyond is the kind of thing that most people associate with the phrase. At this point, your main focuses will most likely be on securing your own financial wellbeing as you move into retirement, minimizing the costs associated with your death, and maximizing what you leave behind to your heirs, loved ones, and other beneficiaries.
Whatever your estate planning goals are, there are more tools available to you than just a last will and testament. For example, you might want to discuss a revocable living trust when you speak with your estate planning attorney if you have real estate or other high-ticket assets that you want to keep out of probate.
No matter where you’re at in life, our firm has the knowledge and experience to help you create a personally tailored estate plan that will meet, if not exceed, your hopes for your family’s financial future. Call our St. Petersburg office for assistance with your own estate plan at 727-279-5037, or schedule a consultation with us online today.
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