If you recently started a family or you are planning to start one soon, you want your family to have a strong foundation. A strong foundation means many things, including financial security, love and loyalty, and a comprehensive estate plan that protects your family both now and in the future. Toward that end, the Los Angeles estate planning attorneys at Schomer Estate & Wealth Advisors discuss estate planning strategies for young families that can help build a strong foundation.
Estate Planning Strategies That Can Help Young Families
Having at least a basic estate plan in place is essential for every adult, without regard to age, wealth, or familial status. Once decide to start building a family, however, that basic plan should grow right along with your family. To get the most out of your estate plan, you need to start with a strong foundation. A strong foundation combined with some, or all the following estate planning strategies will go a long way toward providing your family with the security and protection it needs.
- Make use of life insurance. Most young families are struggling to pay the bills and put a small amount of money away for the future. If that is the case in your family, purchasing sufficient life insurance to ensure your family’s financial security if something happens to you is a must. Once you build up your assets, you can always terminate the policy. You may also want to consider creating an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust that ensures your funeral and burial will be paid for if you die unexpectedly.
- Use a testamentary trust to protect your children’s inheritance. While your children are minors, they cannot legally inherit directly from your estate. For this reason, it is not usually wise to gift assets directly to your children in your Last Will and Testament. Instead, consider using a testamentary trust. This type of trust is created using a provision in your Will, meaning the trust only activates if you die. Assets intended for your children can be poured into the trust and managed by the Trustee of your choosing until they reach adulthood.
- Establish a revocable living trust to plan for the possibility of incapacity. Another beneficial estate planning tool for young families is a revocable living trust. This type of trust lets you appoint yourself as the Trustee and your spouse (or another trusted person) as the successor Trustee. Major assets are transferred into the trust and you continue to control them as usual unless you become incapacitated at which point the successor Trustee takes over without the need for additional steps or court approval.
- Incorporate probate avoidance strategies into your estate plan. Probate is the legal process that a decedent’s estate must go through after death. Assets that are required to go through probate often remain out of reach of the intended beneficiary until probate reaches a conclusion. This can be a problem if your surviving spouse and children will need those assets following your death. To make sure that your family has access to much-needed assets if something happens to you, incorporate probate avoidance strategies into your estate plan. For example, titling your home as joint owners with rights of survivorship ensures that your ownership interest in the house transfers automatically to your spouse if you die. Keeping assets out of probate can be crucial to protecting and providing for your family after you are gone.
Contact Our Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorneys
For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have additional questions or concerns about estate planning strategies for your young family that can help you build a strong foundation, contact the experienced Los Angeles estate planning attorneys at Schomer Estate & Wealth Advisors by calling (310) 337-7696 to schedule an appointment.
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