Thrifty Thinking: Estate Planning

Do you have an estate plan in place? If not, you should. Without a will or estate plan, your assets may not be divided up the way you want them to be, and you may not be able to maximize how much value of your assets gets passed on.

In his book Your Living Trust and Estate Plan 2012-2013: How to Maximize Your Family's Assets and Protect Your Loved Ones, Harvey J. Platt details the best ways to maximize your family's assets. One feature I really like is that it also includes tips for fixing inadequate estate planning even after someone's death. The book is not designed to completely replace legal advice, but it is designed to inform you about your options so that you can make knowledgeable choices.

The biggest piece I want to share is the fact that estate planning is important, no matter what the size of your estate or how little you think you have. Houses, property, insurance policies - all of them need to be considered when creating the estate plan, and the more complicated your situation is, the more important it is to find someone knowledgeable about estate law to help you create a plan, so you know that the largest portion of your assets will go to the people you love the most.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Harvey J. Platt's book to facilitate this review.