Married couples who have children might pass their assets to their heirs. However, even single people can also plan for the future and have an estate plan in place. No matter your life status, you must plan for your estate with the assistance of an experienced estate planning attorney in Ridgeland. Your attorney can help you create a will or explain to you how your assets can avoid probate in the future.
Why Single People Must Consider Estate Planning
When a person dies without an estate plan, the probate court will make estate decisions on behalf of the decedent. A judge or jury will determine who gets certain assets after the estate owner dies based on impersonal formulas that do not consider the owner’s wishes.
As a single person without a will, you may want your parents or distant relatives to inherit your assets. Having your wishes legally documented in a will is particularly essential if you have a romantic partner you haven’t married. This partner could not get anything from your estate when the court begins to divide and distribute your assets.
Why Hire an Estate Planning Attorney?
Estate planning for a non-married person like you is not just ensuring the assets you have accumulated in your life will go to the right people. It also means preparing for the impacts of aging and creating a plan to make sure you are well taken care of and your healthcare wishes are respected. Your estate planning attorney can help you determine your priorities and meet certain legal needs. They can make a will, check on and revise beneficiaries for life insurance and retirement accounts, draft healthcare directives and give durable powers of attorney to those you trust once you become incapacitated or unable to make decisions yourself. Every person, not only a single individual, must periodically reassess their beneficiary designations to make sure accounts won’t be provided to previous spouses, deceased people, or disinherited loved ones. In addition, your lawyer can set up and fund trusts for certain assets you wish to give to certain individuals and organizations to avoid probate. They can update your plan as your life situations change such as during childbirth, marriage, divorces, and death.
Estate planning for single individuals can be complicated. Thus, you should get in touch with an estate planning attorney as soon as possible to ensure all of your assets are distributed based on your wishes.
