Not everyone considers the importance of estate planning solutions for their children. People often assume that estate planning solutions are complicated and costly. But, this is far from true for anyone intending to plan an inheritance for their children.
You can ensure that your son is a beneficiary of your estate planning process in just a few simple steps. Here are these steps and a few considerations to make the entire process easier for you. You can also learn how to go about estate planning to ensure your son doesn’t lose the bulk of his inheritance to taxes.
Set Up a Beneficiary Trust
Trust is one of the best tools you can use to pass on your estate to your son. You can set up a trust to ensure that you can shield the bulk of your estate from taxes. You can even avoid a certain amount of taxes if you choose to invest in a beneficiary trust.
You can establish a revocable living trust for your son if you want them to inherit a part of the estate planning benefits. In this kind of trust fund, you can change the terms before you die. But, you should be well-versed in the pros and cons of revocable trust funds before you make such a decision.
In some cases, it may be better to opt for an irrevocable trust fund instead. You can consult with estate planning lawyers to help you understand the pros and cons of each. These lawyers are sure to offer you solid advice on the kind of trust fund that will benefit your son the most.
Estate planning lawyers can help you complete the formalities related to beneficiary trusts. So, you would be able to go about these formalities in the right way and at the right time. One of the benefits of trust funds is they can help avoid facing lawsuits.
If you choose a revocable trust fund, your creditors can’t claim your estate. So, this helps protect your estate from falling into outsiders’ hands and keep it for your son. Also, you can choose the payouts for your son as he reaches legal ages.
It’s common for parents to choose payouts when their children reach the ages of 21 and above. If you opt for this, it’ll be easier for you to give your son access to your estate when he reaches a responsible age.
Consider Using An Advanced Healthcare Directive
An advanced healthcare directive is also known as a living will and can be useful in many ways. Not everyone associates it with passing on their estate to their children. But, it can be pretty useful in this regard for estate planning processes.
Your healthcare directive influences how your family is affected if you become incapacitated. This is why it’s an important element of estate planning solutions for your son or even your spouse. The arrangements you make can impact the extent to which you receive healthcare.
It also determines how your children will interact with you if you are incapacitated. An advanced healthcare directive can help you spell out how you want to be cared for in case of injury or illness. You can even allow someone to decide your healthcare provisions on your behalf.
The directives make it easier for your son to understand your needs in case you’re incapacitated. In doing so, they would also make it easier for them to understand how you plan on splitting your estate. This in turn would help them make their financial provisions for the future.
But, you should have the right estate planning lawyers on hand to allow you on living wills. Estate planning law is not always easy to understand, so you may need professional help for the same.
Avoid Falling For Intestacy
A common mistake parents make is to avoid making a Will before they die. If you do this, it would leave the division of your estate to your state laws. This is why you should draft a will at the earliest and name a legal guardian for your children.
In some, if not all cases, the name of a legal guardian is included in the Will. People often assume that their spouse is included in their Will if they die intestate. This would only be true if your spouse is a joint account holder.
If not, the state will decide how your estate is to be divided among your spouse and children. The inheritance of your minor son would be managed in a custodial account. This arrangement would continue until your son reached the age of 21. Allowing your assets to be managed in a custodial account is a result of poor estate planning processes.
But custodial accounts are subject to several restrictions. One of these restrictions is that your spouse wouldn’t be able to access your estate for childcare. This may make it difficult for them to care for your son in the event of your death.
Remember to consult with good estate planning lawyers to make your Will to avoid such a situation. Don’t try and put off making your Will until you’ve retired. Consult estate planning lawyers for a Will that reflects the beneficiaries of assets. This would allow you to distribute your estate exactly as you like it.
You can avoid the state making decisions on your behalf if you follow estate planning tips.
Conclusion
These are some of how you can ensure your son inherits your estate. The entire estate planning process can seem complicated but can be made simpler. A way to make it simple is hiring estate planning lawyers to oversee asset distribution.
These lawyers can tell you the best techniques to help your son inherit a large chunk of your estate. Losing some of your estates to inheritance tax is unavoidable in most cases. But, you should know that you can avoid some taxes if you go about the estate planning process in the right way.
You can also consider establishing a power of attorney to keep your children covered in case you die. The person you grant the power of attorney to should be able to give your son the gifts you intended for him. These gifts will be paid out of your assets, so choose your agent carefully.
All in all, planning your inheritance can be a smooth process with the right legal advice.
