You might be wondering why an auntie needs to think about estate planning. Well, there are two reasons:

1.  If something happens to one of your siblings, you could end up in a massive family fight about who would raise your nieces and nephews.  By helping your siblings to understand the importance of estate planning, you can save yourself a lot of grief if anything does happen.

2.  One day, you yourself will die.  It's a fact of life none of us can avoid.  And, if you want to make life as easy as possible for the people you love when that happens, you've got to think about estate planning.

So, what is there to think about?

Well, to begin with, if you have kids at home yourself, you want to be the one who decides who would take care of them in the short-term and who would raise them for the long-term, if you were in an accident.  You definitely don’t want to leave that up to a court to decide.  And, if you don't have kids, you'll want to share this information with your siblings.

Make sure you (if you have kids) and your sibs name legal guardians in writing for free at www.KidsProtectionPlan.com.

Next, if you have money in the bank or own any real property, you will want that money to get to your family as easily as possible if anything happens to you.

The State has a plan for your money, but if you haven’t planned to avoid the State’s plan, it will make life difficult for your loved ones.  Under the State’s plan, your family will have to deal with a Court process called probate, not have complete control of your assets for several months and pay a load of unnecessary expenses that you could have avoided if you had planned ahead. In some States the costs and time of probate are not terrible, but in every State probate is totally public.

You can easily avoid probate for your loved ones by putting what you own into a living trust.  Consult with a lawyer in your State to find out what would happen to your assets if you died now and whether a living trust makes sense for you.

To consult with a local personal lawyer who can help you determine what you need to do to make life as easy as possible for your loved ones, go to www.PersonalFamilyLawyer.com and enter in the certificate code "Savvy Auntie" for a free Family Wealth Planning Session.

If you don’t have any money or minor children, you will still at least want to have in place a Health Care Directive and a Durable Power of Attorney so that your loved ones can make critical financial and health care decisions for you, if you are in an accident.  Every adult person needs to at least have these two documents in place for themselves.

Last, if you want to pass on much more than just your financial wealth and leave the world a better place, you need to set forth the intention to do that and then take action steps throughout your lifetime to capture the intangible assets that are most often lost when someone dies, like your intellectual, spiritual and human assets.  It’s about who you are and what’s important to you.

The most important thing to know is that estate planning is really NOT a do it yourself process.

Sure, you can prepare your own will, trust or health care directive on the internet, but real deal, make a difference for your loved ones estate planning (what I call Family Wealth Planning) is about far more than documents; it’s about making the very best decisions for yourself and the people you love most so you can leave the world a better place.  And that kind of estate planning cannot be done without the guidance of a trusted personal lawyer to be there for you throughout your lifetime and for your loved ones after you are gone.

Show the Universe you are serious about your life by getting control of your financial future.  Leave your loved ones with a legacy of true family wealth.  If you want to leave the world a better place, even on a small scale, now is the time for you to begin planning to do that.
 
Alexis Martin Neely makes a relationship with a Personal Family Lawyer™ accessible and affordable to everyone who wants to leave the world a better place.  Receive Alexis’ free Family Wealth Secrets Online Magazine delivered to your email inbox every week at www.FamilyWealthMatters.com.  Find your own Personal Family Lawyer™ at www.PersonalFamilyLawyer.com.