How to make sure your North Fort Myers Estate Planning is Individualized
In North Fort Myers, passing away without an estate in place leaves your family at the mercy of the Florida probate courts. Any instances where elder law statutes would apply would follow the letter of the law and not your personal wishes. If you have guardianship issues you did not take care of with an estate, then the probate court will use state laws to make those decisions for you. Instead of leaving your family’s future up to the state, you should take matters into your own hands and make sure your estate planning is individualized.
What Does Individualized Estate Planning Mean?
Individualized estate planning means utilizing all of the estate planning tools available to make the arrangements you want to make regarding your assets and your family’s future. It means creating a will that outlines how you want your assets to be distributed and the guardianship arrangements you want to make for your dependent children or, through elder law statutes, your elderly parents.
Where Do I Start?
It is important to secure the services of an experienced estate planning professional who will know how to include all of your individualized requirements into your final estate. When your will and other state papers are registered with the state, a properly written will can help guide the probate courts to making decisions that are in line with your last wishes.
Developing Your Individualized Needs
Once you have found the estate planning professional of your choice, it is time to sit down and write out your individualized estate planning needs. Your lawyer is only going to know what you tell them, and important parts of your estate could be left out if you do not bring them up during your meetings with your attorney.
You need to sit down and write out all of the elements of your estate that you are concerned about and explain how you want them handled. This would include:
- The distribution of your assets to charitable organizations.
- Guardianship arrangements for dependent children or elderly parents.
- The distribution of some of your personal property to specific family members.
- Care instructions for your pets after you have passed away.
Without specific arrangements made in a legally registered estate, the probate courts will use Florida law to handle your estate assets and the needs of family members.
We have years of experience in individualized estate planning that can include just about any type of arrangement you may want. We recommend that you call one of our skilled estate planning attorneys today to start setting up legal arrangements that are in line with your final wishes and avoid leaving the fate of your assets and family members to state laws after you have passed away.