Estate Planning

by Debbie Vasen | More from this Blogger

27 Feb 2008 10:43 AM

Estate planning should be a continual process, always evolving as your life changes. Ideally, you should review your plan yearly and every time you undergo a major lifestyle change.

One such event is a change in martial status. Since marriage is a legal union, it comes with an assortment of financial changes and rights as well. With a new marriage, benefits such as Social Security, veterans, pensions, and retirement accounts will change. In addition, depending on the laws in your state, your assets and liabilities will also merge.

Before marriage and shortly after is a great time to review your estate plan again. You will want to update all your beneficiary designations and both your will and your spouse's. If you don't take care of this right away, it often gets forgotten. Even though you are married, if the beneficiary information or your will is out of date, it can cause havoc after your death.

In turn, divorce is another change in martial status. This is almost even more critical in regards to your financial picture. Divorces can be a costly endeavor and necessitate a change in asset distribution. You want to be sure you have everything tidy and clean immediately after the divorce is finalized. Take care of all of it at one time, as you are already diving into the turmoil anyway.

Whether you are single or married, the key is to ensure you have a will and adequate beneficiary information in your estate planning. Even single individuals with no children need a will and an estate plan. If there are no obvious successors, it can be complicated for the court to determine who gains your estate. Don't let all you hard earned assets get eaten up by lawyers and taxes. Get updating your will and estate plan today!

Related Articles:

*Do you Need a Power of Attorney?

*Take a Class in Financial Planning

*Do You Have a Will?

Learn more about Debbie Vasen

Debbie Vasen is a published web content editor and writer, as well as a freelance writer for various print publications. In addition to blogging at Families.

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