Here's a great article that I came across from a colleague, Julie Garber, that does a really nice job of highlighting 5 of the top reasons why everyone needs to have an estate plan. Her top five reasons are: Avoiding Probate, Reducing Estate Taxes, Protecting Beneficiaries, Avoiding a Mess and Protecting Assets from Creditors. Obviously, these are all very important reasons, but certainly not the only ones that come into play.
Some of the other important reasons to have a well drafted estate plan are to: protect a special needs or incapacitated child, to prevent fighting among your children and heirs, to be able to specify precisely who is to receive what from your estate, to designate who will be in charge of handling your estate after your death, and a number of other important reasons beyond those. Still, Julie's article does a nice job of highlighting some of the bigger reasons why you should stop procrastinating and take the important steps to protect your family and get an estate plan in place today. Take a look, I think you'll find her article to be both interesting and informative. https://www.thebalance.com/top-reasons-why-you-need-an-estate-plan-3505444
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