Waiting to Plan Your Estate Could Cost Your Family Thousands
Waiting to create your estate plan or waiting too long to update the one you already have can cause many problems and potentially thousands of dollars. You’re busy, and planning for what should happen if you become seriously ill or die unexpectedly may not be at the top of your ‘to do’ list. But, it’s time well spent and an investment that could result in a significant return in money saved. Las Vegas estate planning law firm Lee Kiefer & Park’s attorneys have seen the negative consequences that delayed estate planning can cause. We’ll discuss why planning for your future now is worth your time.
Lee Kiefer & Park’s highly experienced Las Vegas estate planning attorneys, Greg J. Carlson and Jordanna L. Evans, help clients throughout Nevada with their estate planning needs. Call us at 702-333-1711 to schedule a free consultation to discuss how planning your estate now may save you money later.
The Financial Problems You Could Encounter by Delaying Your Estate Planning
- Asset Protection – As time passes, your assets may become vulnerable to different risks, including lawsuits, creditors, and taxes. Unforeseen circumstances may pose a risk to your assets that could have been avoided by implementing trusts or gifting as part of your estate plan.
- Family Disputes – Nonexistent, insufficient, or outdated estate plans could result in conflict among family members. By having estate planning documents that are outdated, ambiguous, or inconsistent, you may be susceptible to disputes that ultimately lead to costly and emotionally draining family and legal battles that will harm relationships. Your estate may end up paying to defend against such legal challenges due to inadequate estate planning documents.
- Higher Tax Liability – Tax rules change. Your estate plan should change with them. Periodic reviews of your plan will enable you to take advantage of new opportunities to minimize your tax burden. When your estate plan was first written, the approach and structure may have been entirely sensible based on tax laws at the time. But if estate and income tax laws and regulations, and available tax exemptions, change, your outdated approach may not produce the intended benefit, or perhaps, no benefit.
- Change With the Circumstances – Your estate plan should reflect changes in your life. You may marry, divorce, have kids, or lose loved ones. Your wealth may increase or decrease over time. Your estate plans should adapt to these changes. Without updates, you may have unintended beneficiaries, outdated directives, or an inefficient plan for asset distribution.
- Probate Costs & Delays – Probate, the administration of a deceased person’s estate, could be costly and time-consuming. Estate planning can minimize or eliminate the need for probate and streamline how your assets will be distributed after your death. This can avoid probate expenses, speed up asset distribution, and provide more privacy (because probated wills are public documents).
- Business Succession Plans – An estate plan can include a succession plan, ensuring that your business continues to thrive or is dissolved according to your wishes.
If you own a business and don’t make succession plans for when you may unexpectedly become incapacitated or pass away, your company may become paralyzed because decisions can’t be made or resources can’t be spent without your approval. If it’s a “family” business, this lack of foresight may cause business and family relationship problems.
Contact a Las Vegas Estate Planning Lawyer at Lee Kiefer & Park
There are many financial reasons to plan your estate, and you may lose out on those benefits if you delay creating or updating your estate planning documents. This becomes more important as the value and complexity of your assets increase. Failing to update your plans, clarify ambiguities, or correct mistakes can also lead to costly legal challenges.
Estate planning law firm Lee Kiefer & Park’s highly experienced Las Vegas estate planning lawyers, Jordanna L. Evans and Greg J. Carlson, reduce the risk of their Nevada clients’ potential financial losses through estate planning strategies and properly prepared and executed documents. If you or someone you know needs estate planning in Las Vegas or Henderson, contact our estate planning attorneys for a free consultation using our online contact form. Or call 702-333-1711 to speak to a Las Vegas, Nevada, estate planning attorney.
Attorney Kennedy Lee practices in all aspects of trust and estate law. He views all legal issues from multiple angles (e.g. from litigation to administration point of view) to provide a higher quality of service to our client.
