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Estate Planning Matters: What Happens If You Don’t Have a Will

Estate Planning Matters: What Happens If You Don’t Have a Will

If you care about who will receive your assets after you pass away, then estate planning matters. A will gives you more control over the transfer of assets from your estate than if you do not have a will. Estate planning can be done without a will, but establishing a will is one of the more common ways to transfer assets after a person dies. Lee Kiefer & Park helps clients plan their estates, including the drafting of wills and trusts. 

Lee Kiefer & Park estate planning attorneys Greg Carlson and Jordanna Evans can structure your estate plan to achieve the desired results while complying with Nevada law.. Our comprehensive estate planning covers family, legal, and financial issues. Our Las Vegas estate planning law firm can offer local expertise tailored to your needs. Call us at 702-333-1711 today so we can help create the right plan for you and your family.

What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning, according to the American Bar Association, involves what to do with your assets and, if you have children, recommending who should be their guardian when you pass away. It’s a process whereby an estate planning attorney gathers personal, family and financial information from you, and learns about your desires and needs pertaining to management and distribution of your assets during periods of incapacity and after your death.

Depending on the nature of your assets and your desired plans, title to your property may change during your lifetime as part of your estate plan, and you may wish to establish and fund a trust now rather than administer your assets through your estate (the legal entity owning your property after your death). Estate planning also involves consideration of and planning for assets that need not pass through your estate, such as life insurance proceeds and retirement accounts.

What is a Will?

A will is a document that specifies who will receive your property upon death (your beneficiaries) and, if you have a minor child, who you wish to nominate as the minor child’s guardian (which a district court would finalize) in the event of your premature death. There are several requirements to make a will legally valid in Nevada. 

Through the probate process, your estate’s personal representative, through authority granted by the court, will put your will into action. Your personal representative will first settle the debts and financial obligations of your estate. Your beneficiaries will only receive assets after all final debts, taxes and other financial obligations are paid.

What Happens Without a Will?

If you’re married at the time of death, your surviving spouse will receive all of the joint, community property you owned at death, and a portion of your separate property (if any). The rest (after your bills, taxes, and financial obligations are paid) will go to your next of kin, as determined by Nevada law. Nevada law sets forth who gets what in various scenarios, considering which family members do or do not survive you. 

Accordingly, if you care what happens to your assets after your death and who will receive those assets, and you do not wish to simply follow the distribution provided by Nevada law, then you will need to engage in the estate planning process, and possibly create a will.

What are the Benefits of Having a Will?

Through a will, you can choose your desired beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries do not need to be your next of kin or even related to you. Your beneficiaries can be friends or people who support you through your life. They can be charities whose missions you feel are important.

The validity of a will can be challenged if a beneficiary, or someone who would typically be a beneficiary, claims you were under duress or not of sound mind when you created the will. There also may be technical issues with the formalities surrounding the creation of a will that may give rise to a challenge. 

The risk of a challenge increases if your estate is large and/or your family relationships are complicated. An estate planning attorney will assist with the creation of your will in a way that ensures its validity and reduces the risk of a legal challenge.

In some cases (such as where beneficiaries are minors or have disabilities), a trust may make more sense than administering your estate through a will.  A trust is a legal entity managed by a trustee who manages and distributes assets to the beneficiaries based on terms you provide. As part of your estate plan, you could create and fund a trust that supports you during your life and supports your desired beneficiaries after your death.

Contact Estate Planning Lee Kiefer & Park to Start the Discussion

A will can be an essential part of estate planning. It provides you flexibility and control over your assets upon your death.

Estate planning attorneys at Lee Kiefer & Park are highly experienced Las Vegas lawyers who plan estates for clients like you throughout Nevada. If you or a family member would benefit from estate planning, whether they’re in Las Vegas or Henderson, contact our estate planning attorneys for a free consultation by filling out our confidential contact form. You can also call us at 702-333-1711 to talk with an estate planning lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada, who’s experienced in estate planning and executing legal documents like wills.

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The information provided on this website is not legal advice and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is formed by use of the site or by submitting a contact form. None of the content on this website constitutes a guarantee, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of any legal matter.

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