Estate Planning and Why It Is Important

Written by: Garrett Bohler, Wealth Manager

For our long-time clients, yearly discussions on Estate Planning documents have become a familiar topic and families new to our firm have probably heard us mention these documents a couple of times already. It’s imperative to understand the value and importance these documents offer as well as potential mistakes to avoid.

While every family’s situation or circumstances are unique, these are general points about Estate Planning. Not all will apply to everyone, but if you feel they do apply to your specific situation, we encourage you to contact your Estate Planning Attorney to confirm if these points apply to you or not.

At Wheelhouse, we believe the following points are what provide the most importance and value for our families with their Estate Planning process.

1. A properly executed Estate Plan, typically through a trust, allows your funds to be transferred to your beneficiaries without the need for probate court. In Missouri and Illinois, it is required to have an attorney represent you in probate court. The cost of Probate Court and your attorney can reach up to 5% of the value of your estate on average.
2. Depending on your specific situation, an estate plan that focuses on trust splitting can potentially save your family from the burden of the inheritance tax, and in some cases, even federal and state taxes, if implemented properly.
3. Probate court has public records, meaning anyone can access these records during the probate proceedings which may leave your estate susceptible to other relatives wanting to probate your estate and creditors could challenge your will as well.
4. The probate process is not a short process. Even uncontested probates have been known to take longer than a year in some instances. If your will is contested, the probate process could take even longer than a year.
5. A well-structured estate plan not only protects your beneficiaries but can also lay out a specific plan for how they receive the money so that they do not squander it away or lose it through divorce and poor decisions. If you have a minor child or a child with disabilities who will need the money to last them and/or also take care of them, you can designate a guardian or conservator to oversee the distribution for your child’s needs after you are no longer here.
6. Within an Estate Plan it is always good to have financial and health directives in place so that should you become incapacitated, a trusted individual is already appointed who can carry out your health wishes, make medical decisions, continue to pay your bills, and cover the costs of your care.

These are some of the key reasons we like to focus on when considering if Estate Planning documents are right for our families. As always, should you have any specific questions about Estate Planning, please contact your Wheelhouse team.