Who Needs Estate Planning?
Estate planning is not limited to wealthy or older adults. If you own property, have minor children or other dependents, operate a business, or want someone you trust to make financial or health care decisions if you become incapacitated, you should consider creating an estate plan.
Estate planning can involve difficult questions about your health, finances, family, and what should happen if you can no longer communicate your wishes. Addressing those questions now can give the people you trust clear legal authority when they need it.
At Kleiman & Wolfe, S.C., we help individuals and families evaluate these decisions and create plans based on their circumstances and goals. From our office in Marinette, Wisconsin, we serve clients throughout Wisconsin and Michigan. Contact us today to discuss which estate-planning documents may be appropriate for you.
Estate Planning Isn’t Just for the Wealthy
One of the most common misconceptions about estate planning is that it matters only to people with substantial assets. In reality, estate planning allows you to document who should receive your property, who should handle your affairs after your death, and who can make decisions if you become unable to act.
An estate plan may include:
A will: A will can direct the distribution of probate assets, nominate a personal representative, and identify your preferred guardian for minor children, although the court makes the final appointment.
A financial power of attorney: This document can authorize someone to manage financial and legal matters during your lifetime. Its terms determine when the authority begins, and the agent’s authority generally ends at your death.
A health care power of attorney: This document can identify someone to make health care decisions for you if the legal requirements for activation are met and you cannot make those decisions yourself.
Beneficiary designations: Life insurance, retirement accounts, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts generally pass to the named beneficiaries rather than under your will.
A trust: A properly created and funded trust may help manage assets, provide for children or other beneficiaries, and transfer trust property outside probate. Whether a trust is useful depends on your property and goals.
These tools can benefit families at any income level. Even a modest estate may include a home, vehicle, financial accounts, personal belongings, or insurance proceeds that require proper management or transfer.
Parents and Caregivers Have Additional Reasons to Plan
Parents often begin estate planning because they want to protect their children. A will allows you to state whom you would prefer to serve as guardian if no parent is available to care for a minor child. Although the court retains authority over the appointment, your written nomination provides important evidence of your wishes.
You should also consider how a child’s inheritance will be managed. Leaving property directly to a minor may require court involvement or management by a custodian or conservator. A trust may allow you to name a trustee, establish distribution terms, and provide instructions for education, healthcare, housing, and other needs.
Caregivers have similar concerns. If you support an adult with a disability, an aging parent, or another dependent, estate planning can address who will manage designated assets and how financial support should continue if you die or become incapacitated. Certain beneficiaries may require additional planning to avoid unintentionally affecting eligibility for means-tested public benefits.
Estate planning cannot replace every caregiving arrangement, but it can provide legal authority and financial direction for the people who depend on you.
Adults at Different Life Stages Need Different Plans
Estate-planning needs change with your relationships, health, property, and responsibilities. A young adult may need financial and health care powers of attorney, while a parent may need a will and guardian nomination. Homeowners should review how their property is titled and will transfer, business owners may need succession plans, and retirees should ensure older documents align with current beneficiary designations and goals.
Consider creating or reviewing your plan when you:
Turn 18: Parents generally no longer have automatic authority to access an adult child’s medical information, manage finances, or make decisions on the child’s behalf.
Get married or divorced: Marriage and divorce can affect inheritance rights, beneficiary designations, ownership interests, and provisions in existing estate-planning documents.
Have or adopt a child: A new child may require changes to beneficiary provisions, guardian nominations, and plans for managing an inheritance.
Buy a home: Real estate ownership can affect probate, survivorship rights, taxes, and how the property transfers after death.
Start or acquire a business: A business owner may need a plan for continued management, ownership transfer, valuation, or sale.
Enter retirement: Retirement accounts, beneficiary choices, health care preferences, and financial powers of attorney may need review.
Move to another state: Wisconsin and Michigan have different laws and document requirements. A move does not necessarily invalidate an existing plan, but a legal review can identify provisions that should be updated.
Experience a death or significant illness: The death or incapacity of a beneficiary, agent, guardian nominee, trustee, or personal representative may leave an important role unfilled.
We can identify which documents fit your current circumstances and whether an existing plan needs revision. Contact our firm if a major life event has changed your family, finances, or wishes.
What Happens if You Do Not Have a Plan?
If you die without a valid will, state intestacy laws generally determine who receives your probate property. Those rules may not match your preferences, particularly if you have an unmarried partner, stepchildren, estranged relatives, or other people you want to include.
Intestacy laws also do not control every asset. Property held with survivorship rights and accounts with valid beneficiary designations may pass outside probate. This is why a complete review should address ownership, beneficiary forms, and estate-planning documents together.
If you become incapacitated without valid powers of attorney, family members may lack authority to manage your finances or make certain health care decisions. In some circumstances, someone may need to ask a court to appoint a guardian or conservator. That process can take time and may result in the appointment of someone you would not have selected.
A valid plan cannot prevent every disagreement or administrative problem. It can, however, reduce uncertainty by identifying your chosen decision-makers and documenting how you want your affairs handled.
Who Should Consider Estate Planning?
You should consider estate planning if you:
Have a spouse, partner, child, stepchild, or other dependent.
Own a home, business, financial account, vehicle, or other property.
Want to choose who will receive your property.
Want to nominate a guardian for a minor child.
Want someone you trust to manage finances during incapacity.
Have preferences about health care decisions.
Provide financial support or care for another person.
Already have documents that may be outdated.
Estate planning addresses both incapacity and death. The appropriate plan depends on your family structure, assets, state of residence, and the people you trust to carry out your wishes.
At Kleiman & Wolfe, S.C., we help clients create and update estate plans based on their current needs. From our office in Marinette, Wisconsin, we serve clients throughout Wisconsin and Michigan. Contact us today to begin creating a plan that reflects your wishes.
