Estate planning is essential to ensuring your loved ones will be cared for upon your passing. From designating assets to having life insurance, you can ensure your loved ones will have everything you want them to have. According to Caring, an online caregiving resource, more than 75% of Americans have not legally planned their estate. Don't leave anything to chance. It's never too late to plan your estate. Keep reading to learn about a few things you should discuss with your loved ones while planning your estate.

The Family Home

If you're a homeowner who wants to pass your house down to your future heirs, you should make that clear in your estate planning. Discuss how much will be designated to whom before your passing to avoid infighting. After all, real estate can be a murky situation upon death, especially if some heirs want to sell the home, but others want to live in it. Therefore, you may want to specify that the home may be sold at a certain percentage or keep it in a trust and allow it to stay in the family.

Power of Attorney

A power of attorney is someone who can speak on your behalf in case you become incapacitated. This can happen due to an accident or illness in which you can no longer speak for yourself or make rational decisions. Whoever you appoint as your power of attorney should be aware of this beforehand, as that can be a great responsibility, and you want to ensure the person is capable.

Legal Guardians

If you have minor children, you should always name a legal guardian to be responsible for them until they come of age. If you have a significant estate for them to inherit, you may want stipulations that state they’ll gain control upon turning 18, 21, or 25. Until then, the legal guardian can be allowed to manage their estate and give them enough to live on until they can take control of the finances.

The Executor

The executor is someone you trust enough to designate assets from your will. The person will deal with the probate court if a will is your chosen estate planning document. However, if you have a trust, you'll have a trustee.

If you want to ensure your loved ones are well cared for upon your death, you shouldn't hesitate to invest in estate planning immediately. Avoid a fight or extended wait in probate because you didn't specify who your beneficiaries were and what they should get. Give yourself peace of mind and contact Kollmorgen, Schlue & Zahradnik, P.C.