Attorney Ashley D. Stearns and local professionals including representatives from Alive Hospice and the Alzheimer’s Association will hold an estate planning conversation at Cultivate Coworking on Oct. 11 to encourage everyone to plan now for death. Event organizers encourage everyone, no matter their age, to begin getting their affairs in order early, to make sure their final wishes are carried out and to ensure that as many details as possible are already determined to remove some of those burdens from their family.
Take a look at the questions below and see how your estate planning knowledge stacks up.
Did you know that . . . ?
If you’re married with kids, unless you have a will, all of your property will not go to your surviving spouse at your death.
If you don’t have a will, then the state of Tennessee has intestate laws as to how your property will pass.
If you die without a will, your property does not go to the state of Tennessee.
If you wish to leave money to an individual with special needs, to best protect that individual, you should use a special needs trust.
If you leave most retirement accounts to your estate, you’re probably creating an undesirable tax event for your beneficiaries.
Giving your house to your kids in the hopes of qualifying for Medicaid (TennCare here in Tennessee) is a big gamble.
You can’t leave property to property (ie, you can’t leave money to your dog!), but you sure can use a pet trust.
Most of us don’t have to worry about planning for estate taxes at death.
Most of us should be worried about planning for income taxes at death.
Avoiding probate is likely not as important as you think.
If you don’t have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, your surviving spouse is entitled to a certain percentage of your estate, regardless of what your will says.
You might want to file a federal estate tax return even if you don’t owe any estate taxes.
You are never too young to worry about estate planning.
Lack of planning is often more expensive to administer than a well-planned estate.
What can you do?
Make an appointment with an attorney qualified to practice in estate planning and tax law to discuss a plan that is appropriate for you and your family.
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Register for the free Oct. 11 event at Cultivate Coworking at thepulsestopshere.eventbrite.com. Topics covered will include standard important documents to create and have, setting up trusts, power of attorney and other topics that affect people in today’s times.
