First of all, estate planning comes with its own benefits. Through a properly drafted estate plan you can plan for marriage, retirement, healthcare and death. You should always be prepared even for the worst of situations and estate planning is a great place to start. It doesn’t matter if you are married, single, widowed or divorced, we all have a person, relatives, siblings or friends who we love and care for. So, for the benefits of our loved ones and to insure that we have a say we should do estate planning.

Estate Planning for Singles

Estate planning for the singles is very important because we all need to find someone who is going to get all or part of our estate and who will carry forward with it. As a single person, if you have never been married and have no kids it can be difficult to decide on whom to leave your estate to. As a divorced or widowed individual without kids, it too can be difficult to choose a beneficiary. A beneficiary can and should be your children, close family member or a good friend. However, a single person can also choose to leave everything or a part of their estate to charity or other non-profit organization if they wish too.

You must know that if you die without an estate plan and you were single then the court will find the closest relative and make him/her the beneficiary. This might work for you and already be aligned with your current wishes but for most having control and a say means a lot. We always like to say it is nice to be able to control a piece of the future today and estate planning is just that.

Estate Planning benefits for Singles

Estate planning comes with lots of benefits especially if you are single. If you are young and single and looking to get married one day estate planning can help protect your assets from being part of marital property. Why is this important? Well no one wishes to speak about divorce before getting married yet divorce has become a more frequent topic of conversation. Estate planning can help the uncomfortable conversation of discussing a prenuptial agreement. This is also an important consideration for those that are divorced or widowed yet back to dating. You never know when you met the one why not have your assets tucked away and well protected.

For singles Estate planning is not just about asset protection or pass-through of assets to the person of ones choosing. It is also important to think about who will take care of you in the event that you are sick, start suffering from dementia or god forbid end up in a car accident and unable to take care of yourself. Who will be responsible or better yet able to make medical decisions on your behalf? Who will be able to make financial decisions or access your finances to better take care of you once you’re unable to do it for yourself? Through proper planning and with the help of a good estate planning lawyer these issues can be addressed.

What if you don’t have anyone to make a beneficiary?

In some cases, you may have no one around that you trust, love or would like to leave your assets to. You may not have someone to act as your healthcare proxy or power of attorney or even take care of your burial arrangements. In these rare but not uncommon cases we suggest turning to a professional such as your attorney, accountant or doctor to play this role in your life for a fee. It is always best to plan ahead and know when the time comes even if it is at a cost there is someone to look after you and your affairs.

In the end, being single isn’t easy and planning when you are single can prove to be tricky. Seeking proper guidance from an experienced attorney is always advised. Our law firm offers free consultations. Don’t wait call us today to find out how planning can help you!

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What Does Estate Planning Include?

Following are some of the must-have items which should be there in any estate planning

• Last will and testament – This last will or testament actually consists of your last wishes regarding your distribution of your assets and who should get it.
• Power of attorney – You must have the power of attorney who can take decisions for you just in case you are found to be mentally incompetent while you are alive. You must be careful while choosing your power of attorney. He or she must be trustworthy and they should agree with your point of view and opinions regarding the distribution of property.
• Healthcare Proxy – A healthcare proxy is a must in estate planning. You can give this power to a very trusted person who will be able to make the right medical decisions for you when you won’t be capable of doing so.
• End-of-life plan – End-of-life planning actually requires you to distribute all your belongings to your loved ones. In case you do not have this plan in your estate planning then the decision is taken by the court. And more often is the case that the court gives it to the people who you did not want to have. Thus, it is one of the most important parts of your estate planning.

The Importance of Estate Planning

It does not matter whether you are single or married while having an estate plan. This legal document provides safety and security to your loved ones and also ensures that all your hard-earned belongings are kept safely with the people who care about you.

Thus, estate planning is not only a practical decision but also an emotional one. It offers you peace of mind before dying that all you love will be taken care of no matter what.

Tips for Singles About Estate Planning

Here are some tips that can come handy to any single earner regarding estate planning.

Take Time to Make Your Estate Planning

Even if you are single it is highly important for you to have an estate plan. Mostly married couples give most of their belongings to their spouses. But since you are single, you do not have that option. So, you need to sit down and think carefully as to who would be perfectly suitable to take care of your assets after you are gone. So, take your time and decide accordingly about the beneficiaries.

You Have to Have the Power of Attorney and Health Care Attorney

As stated above, you need to have a power of attorney and a health care attorney. They will take care of you even when you are alive and not in a position to take your decisions. The power of attorney will look after your financial matters while the healthcare proxy will take care of your medical decisions.

So, while choosing people for both of these roles you need to be careful. You must trust them fully before giving them such huge responsibilities.

Choose Your Heir

As you are single, you need to decide who to consider as your heir. Normally people give it to their children or their spouse. But if you are unmarried, without any children, you need to identify your most loved one who you can trust completely with your hard-earned assets. Try to give this to the person who is close to you and who can benefit the most from your assets.

Update the Planning

It is not necessary that once you have made the estate planning, you cannot change it. You can definitely change and update your estate planning until you die. So, if you ever feel like making some changes, you can correct it accordingly.

Conclusion!

Estate planning is important for all people in the world, whether married or unmarried and we hope that this article will act as a guide to all the single people working towards their estate planning! Estate planning can be difficult contact us today to setup your free consultation with one of our experienced estate planning lawyers to see how planning can help you.

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