Is Your Family Worth an Estate Plan?
The financial cost of an estate plan is easy to see. The fee your Texas Estate Planning Attorney charges to complete your estate plan is the financial cost.
It is more difficult to pin down the real value of an estate plan. It is paper and its real value exists only if it achieves your goals. Many families that neglect to prepare an estate plan for the protection of themselves and their families provide us with common examples of what goes wrong after they are no longer around. The Wall Street Journal gave us a nice summary of these issues in the article “You’re Not Worth It” from March 8, 1999.
Messages to family if you do not get a will.
10. All your money goes to the wrong person.
9. Uncle Sam will become your beneficiary.
8. Your business could go to people who cannot stand each other.
7. The court gets to help run your family business.
6. Your [minor] kids’ finances will get awfully complicated.
5. You son will be able to buy a Ferrari.
4. Your kids may end up paying taxes on the life insurance collected by your sister.
3. Your soon-to-be-ex-son-in-law will get a big chunk of your assets.
2. Your neediest child gets shortchanged.
1. Your final message is: ‘I don’t care.’
Bonus: Higher legal fees will reduce heirs’ net inheritance.