Every person and family in Virginia should be concerned with estate planning. Life is filled with uncertainties, and being unprepared only places enormous burdens on your family and loved ones. Attending an Estate Planning Workshop presented by an experienced Virginia Estate Planning Attorney can help you understand what is involved and how to begin.
Here are some great reasons to attend an estate planning workshop and begin creating an estate plan.
Remove Uncertainty and Confusion
Much uncertainty and confusion exists about estate planning; most of this is simply due to ignorance. We often fear or avoid what we do not understand. Moreover, estate planning is often associated with death, a subject we tend to avoid. However, estate planning is nothing to fear or put off any longer. In fact, regardless of where you are in life, now is the time to get a handle on your estate planning.
Everyone should have an estate plan, young and old. Basically, if you have a checking and/or savings account, you have an “estate” that requires some advance planning. Consider these questions:
- What if you were alive but not competent to manage your assets?
- What will happen to your financial accounts if you die?
- Who inherits any physical property you own, such as real estate, vehicles or collectibles?
- How would you pay for medical care if you were suddenly stricken with a long-term illness?
- Do you have assets you wish to pass on to family or loved ones? How do you ensure they will receive them?
These and other questions are just some of the issues you can address with estate planning. Instead of wondering about the future (or worrying about it), structured estate planning allows you to formulate and record your wishes for the future and ensure they will be carried out.
You can even adopt measures to protect your assets from your future creditors or lawsuits and/or from a Medicaid long-term care spenddown, as well as pass on these assets to loved ones in the future. As we mentioned earlier, estate planning is not just for the elderly or infirm – it has benefits for everyone at any age or stage of life.
Avoid Common Mistakes
Attending an estate planning workshop can prevent you from making common mistakes in your estate planning. Perhaps one of the most common (and most serious) is downloading boilerplate forms from the internet to use for creating a will and other estate planning documents. Every state has some different statutes that can apply, and your unique situation cannot possibly be adequately covered or protected by standardized forms.
Other common mistakes you can learn to avoid can include:
- Misunderstanding tax implications
- Ignoring state laws
- Misplacing important documents
- Making hasty changes to your estate plan
Get Seasoned Advice and Guidance
Estate planning can be complex and requires seasoned and knowledgeable guidance. You could miss out on important benefits or protections, or even cause yourself or your family unnecessary expenses. A Virginia Estate Planning Attorney can answer all your questions and recommend sound, effective and timely elements to include in your estate plan. With the proper guidance, you can secure your assets and your future (and that of your loved ones) so everyone in your family can have peace of mind.
Promise Law Offers a FREE Estate Planning Workshop!
Perhaps the best reason to attend an estate planning workshop is that Promise Law offers one for free! We schedule free estate planning workshops on demand when you need to investigate how to begin estate planning for yourself and your family. Plus, our estate planning workshop includes a complimentary consultation with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys.
Visit our Estate Planning Workshop web page for more information. Then, contact our office at (757) 866-3730 or complete the contact form on the page to schedule your free estate planning workshop.
