Everyone needs an estate plan. The saying goes, however, that everyone has an estate plan. It’s true. If you don’t make your own estate plan, the laws that govern your state provide you with a generic one. In most states, you might find it’s somewhat intuitive. First to a spouse, then to children, then parents, then siblings, etc. Even more, in many cases the way we own things while we are alive has built in estate planning, like a joint bank account, the way we hold title to a home, or how retirement accounts and life insurance are controlled by contracts with trustees and underwriters, not by a will or probate.
So if we all have an estate plan, then perhaps some better advice would be we all need to understand our estate plan, and more importantly, make sure it reflects our intentions and accounts for the unexpected. Since life changes periodically, you need to evaluate your estate plan periodically.
Over the course of our lives, we accumulate all kinds of things, some worthless and some valuable. While what we leave behind (or don’t leave behind) for family, friends and maybe charities will undoubtedly be a part of our life’s legacy, the way in which we leave it behind can positively or negatively shape our legacy for years to come.
When you fuse your financial legacy, acquired over a lifetime of diligent planning and responsible investing, with an estate plan that delivers it to the next generation in a way that reflects your values and principals, the impact is remarkable. This is why you should never plan to separate your financial and estate planning. This is why Castfirm is here. Welcome!
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