How to choose the right heirs for your assets? Well, having a professional estate plan lawyer by your side can help you with that. Building a legacy for your loved one after your death is one of the most essential and meaningful tasks. Whether it’s your children, spouse, siblings, or parents, leaving a will behind can simplify who’ll take care of your assets. But for that, you need to prepare careful documentation and estate planning. And one of the major and tough things about estate plans is choosing the beneficiaries for your assets. Wondering how? Well, continue reading the below blog post.
Who can be your potential beneficiaries?
Your beneficiaries can be anyone. Someone from your family, someone from your distant family, or a trust/church/organisation. You can choose anyone to give assets to. But before that, you must ask the following to yourself:
1. Who’ll need your financial support the most?
2. Do you have minor children?
3. Do you have pets whom you want to protect?
4. Do you have any assets that you want to keep within the family?
5. Can you safely leave your assets to your heirs without any conditions?
6. Are there any churches/non-profits/charities you want to donate money to?
What to consider when choosing beneficiaries for your assets?
Choosing heirs is a very personal and essential decision during estate planning. It also varies from person to person. But regardless of that, you should consider the following when choosing heirs:
1. Before you choose someone as your heir, ensure that they’ve insurable interests in your assets. Though you can select anyone as your beneficiaries, there must be a legit financial interest between you and them.
2. The age of the beneficiaries is another point that you must consider when choosing heirs. Why? Well, because most insurance firms and pension plans won’t pay benefits to people who’re under 18 years old.
3. Also, consider if your chosen heirs have the ability to manage the money or not. If they’re unable, you may need to build a trust for them.
4. Unfortunate things can happen and your primary beneficiary may die before you. It can affect the estate plan. To prevent that, ensure to plan the contingency and choose a secondary heir for your assets. So, if your primary heir dies, your assets will go to the secondary heir.
5. Specify your options when choosing your beneficiaries. If you don’t mention to whom you want to give your assets, they’ll be distributed among others as per your estate plan/will.
6. You must also consider the state beneficiary rules before choosing someone as your heir. Why? Well, some states may have restrictions about whom you can choose as your heirs and whom not.
Are you planning to draft your will? Having a proficient estate plan lawyer by your side can help you the most with it. All you’ll have to do is ensure that the lawyer is the right one for your estate planning.
Author Bio: The Author is a proficient estate plan lawyer. For years, he has helped many people draft wills and plan estates. Besides that, he has also written many blog posts and articles on similar topics.
