Estate Planning

Preparing to die ( i.e. estate planning ) can be expensive.  Speaking of dying, check out my new link to books I'm currently reading.  Anyway, yes, estate planning can be very expensive, but it does not have to be.  Unless you're mega-rich with lots of assets to worry about, most of us now have the luxury of using some great ( and inexpensive ) software packages to assemble all the necessary documents.  Suze Orman has a pretty decent software package.  Yeah, I know, she can be a cheeseball and communicate false information sometimes, but these documents are pretty standard and not even she can mess that up.  The point here is that you don't need to spend a ton of money ( sometimes in the thousands of dollars ) on an attorney to assemble all the essential documents.  Of course, some folks don't want to worry about these documents and will be comfortable shelling out the bucks for an attorney - that's ok too.

In addition to the Living Trust I mentioned yesterday, some things to consider are...

Will

Durable Power of Attorney

Living Will / Advance Directive / Health Care Directive

Name your beneficiaries on your assets

Find the right executor

Keep important info about your assets in a safe deposit box

Communicate your wishes to your family

Just remember that the US Government is more than willing to step in for you if you don't plan accordingly.  For the most part, as long as you establish your beneficiaries on your assets and can avoid probate, then you should be alright.