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Estate Planning Is Important

By: Nick Messe

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No one likes to think about it, but the realistic truth is everybody dies. The bluntness of that statement may be hard to swallow, yet the truth of it remains. What is it about death that haunts us so much? Perhaps it is the inevitability of reaching an end, but more than likely it is that feeling of loss.

Loss of ourselves and loss of others. What would you be willing to do to alleviate some of the loss and helplessness experienced by your loved ones when you pass? Almost anything? One of the best ways you can protect your family is having secure, thorough estate planning documents in place.

By making arrangements for the distribution of your property before you pass, you take away the cause for many family disagreements and arguments. When a person passes and the family is grieving, everyone's emotions are going to be near surface levels. It is then that discontent and anger can breed. Who gets what, who knew your desires better, and other questions are bound to cause family squabbles.

Estate planning documents help take these important questions out of the shaking hands of your greiving family members. Having thoroughly written powers of attorney in place for both financial and health decisions will alleviate the question of who gets to make the final decisions. Having a living will in place helps prevent family disasters that arise when life and death decisions are to be made in the case of the unthinkable. Wills and trusts will spell out who gets what and in what succession.

If you have any dependents that are underage or require special needs, estate planning documents are a must. You are responsible for their well being, and if something happens to you, natural or unnatural, there absolutely needs to be preparations set in place. Someone needs to immediately step in and continue their care. If this is the case for you, and you do not have estate planning documents yet in place, contact a Portland, Oregon, family law attorney about guardianships and conservatorships as soon as possible.

As you already know, when you die, your estate and other assets must be distributed. Proper estate planning can help lower any inheritance taxes your assets would be filtered through. It also helps prevent the need for probate. Probate is the legal proceeding in which the title of your estate is transferred to a surviving party.

When a person dies in testate, meaning with a will, the court merely reviews the will for validity and then distributes the estate as directed. However, when a person dies intestate, meaning without a will, it is a whole new ball game. Someone must be appointed to represent any claims made against the estate, and that is only after the estate is fully assessed, and then the estate is simply distributed according to the State laws in place. This distribution takes place, of course, after the deceased debts are paid, taxes are taken out, and the legal and administration fees associated with this intestate probate process have been taken out as well.

The best way to avoid the family squabbles that all too often surface with the death of a family member, is to have planned ahead. Having the proper estate documents will help reduce estate taxes. It will also help guarantee that your estate will be distributed just as you desire See a Portland, Oregon, estate and probate attorney to help your family prepare for tomorrow today.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Nick Messe is president of Lead Frog LLC. In Portland Oregon it's Martin, Elliott and Snell PC for an experienced Tualatin family law attorney. They always offer a personal and supportive approach to clients caught up in a divorce or other family legal matter - www.mes-law.com

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