Letting the world know your wishes (or at least your attorney)
In life some things are easier to share than others. If you recently got engaged, married, had a baby, got a promotion or landed a great gig – sharing the news is exciting. You want the world to know.
Your estate plan is different—you don’t want the world to know your wishes (generally while you are alive this is to remain confidential). However, you do not want to be so private about your affairs that no one ever finds out about them (i.e. people digging your backyard to find your will or trust). Thus at some point you do want your affairs to be administered in the way that you direct them to be via proper legal documents.
Most people tend to delay making decisions about their financial affairs or what happens in case of their (gasp) death even if their internal family dynamic is peaceful and distribution fairly straight-forward (for example, couple has only one child that will inherit everything). If no planning is done, the government has a plan for you it is called probate (you can read about it here).
Planning can be especially important if you don’t have children of your own and if you are not married (or have a domestic partner). The best planning you can do is by having the proper estate planning documents signed in front of witnesses, notary and documents drafted by an attorney, who becomes a trusted counselor. If not done properly or at all, various family members might argue, rightly or wrongly so, that they should be a beneficiary of your estate. Having an attorney draft your estate plan is critically important so that later your family can turn to someone who knew your wishes and can answer questions about your estate. Also, having an attorney allows for this process to stay private and takes the guesswork, confusion for your family and loved ones. If done properly, estate planning documents can save your loved ones from the probate court and the potential of a lengthy litigation (where beneficiaries can try to interpret your wishes).
The probate court has many cases when a person without children or spouse/partner suddenly, late in life, wills everything to someone who is not a family member or was unknown to the closest relatives. Wills in those cases were handwritten, not drafted by attorney, raising suspicions about validity of the Will. Leaving the estate to a friend or a charity is a perfectly fine choice however, having an attorney draft those documents, having those documents signed in front of impartial witnesses provide a sense of security that these were truly your wishes. Also attorneys generally hold onto the original Will and give clients a conformed copy—this is to ensure no additional pages are added and that the Original Will is not altered in any way.
Proper planning is a smart choice regardless of how simple or complex your estate or family situation might be, but particularly important for people who are single, without children or immediate family close by to ensure there is no abuse or any fraudulent activity going on. Letting the right people know (your family and attorney) about your wishes should let you sleep peacefully at night.
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday whether it was with family, friends or some R&R alone. I spent mine with my family and mom, here in the Desert, amazed at the gorgeous weather we had that day. You can see the picture of my daughter and me on a boat ride we took at the Desert Marriot during the Thanksgiving break. I love Thanksgiving as we really tend to focus on what’s the most important to us - simple joys of being around your loved ones and remembering all those things we are grateful for. 