What Is Estate Planning in Indiana?

Simply put, estate planning is figuring out what happens to your assets at the time of your death, and planning for how we get from here to there.  Preserving assets, protecting your interests, and setting up the proper legal documents are all parts of this process.

Estate planning not only includes planning for asset distribution upon your demise, but also encompasses advance directives, including advance healthcare directives, living wills, a health care proxy, a medical power of attorney, a financial power of attorney, and other documents to make your wishes and desires known. Known in advanced decisions or advanced directives, and directives that are personal to you are known and carried out.

If you were to pass away today:

• Who would take care of your children?
• Who would be chosen to represent your estate?
• Would your estate owe any taxes?

If you become incapacitated today:

• Who would oversee your day to day decisions?
• Who would supervise your business decisions?
• Who would manage your health care decisions?

Nobody wants to imagine their death or disability, but creating an estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to safeguard yourself and your loved ones. It is a common myth that Estate Planning is only for the very wealthy, but that could not be further from the truth. Everyone should have basic Estate Planning.

Everyone should engage in estate planning in order to be ready for an uncertain future. We all have intentions for what we would like to happen to our possessions and our remains after we pass away, despite the fact that some people may not think they have much of a “estate” to speak of.

DIY legal paperwork may appear to be a cheap and simple solution to complete estate planning and cross it off your to-do list without having to hire a costly attorney. Since you can already prepare and file your taxes online, what makes estate planning so different? Lawyers don’t use the identical forms that can be found on these websites for creating your own documents.

One of the most expensive mistakes you can make for your loved ones is to rely solely on DIY or online estate planning paperwork. Do not assume that just because you have established “legal” estate planning paperwork, they will function when you or, more crucially, the people you care about need them. You are likely to make critical errors while developing a DIY or online estate plan if you don’t have a solid awareness of your family dynamics, the kind of assets you have, and how the legal system operates in the event of your death or incapacity.

Our Firm provides an array of Estate Planning for individuals and families of all types, ranging from living wills to trust management. Proper estate planning puts you in control of your finances, and protects your loved ones from the expenses, delays, and frustrations associated with managing your affairs when you pass away or become disabled.

Typical documents simply cannot address the complexities of your assets, family interactions, and ever-changing personal circumstances. Estate planning is not a one-size-fits-all, once-and-done kind of thing, despite what the DIY services would have you believe. Even if you believe your own assets and family circumstances are straightforward, this nearly never ends up being the case. You are more likely to experience one of the following problems, which could put your family at risk.

Estate planning tools we provide can include:

• Last Will and Testament
• Durable Power of Attorney
• Health Care Power of Attorney
• Living Will
• Guardian Designations
• Final Planning Intent Letter
• Organ Donor Registration
• HIPAA Release
• Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts
• NFA Gun Trusts
• Elder Planning / Nursing Home Planning
• Incapacity and Disability Planning
• Special Needs Planning
• Gifting and Tax Planning
• Business Succession Planning

Following the creation of your estate planning documents, you should carefully evaluate them every few years with our office. Your tastes may have evolved, you may have had a change of heart, or you may have acquired new property that needs to be taken into account in your trust and/or will. Reviewing these kinds of documents is especially important in light of substantial changes to state and federal regulations as well as the probate process.