What are the Consequences of Estate Planning Mistakes?

A Hartford estate planning attorney helps you to be proactive in avoiding estate planning mistakes. Taking proactive steps to avoid estate planning mistakes is vital because a mistake could cost you and your loved ones everything. You don’t want to make an error like using the wrong legal tools or not using legal tools correctly and find that the mistake cannot be corrected at the time when it is discovered. Taking care of your family and protecting your assets is far too important for you to just leave to chance, so you should take appropriate action to put a comprehensive plan in place today. Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates will help. 

It’s important to understand some of the major consequences of making an estate planning mistake so you can ensure that you are proactive in getting legal help from a qualified and experienced attorney. Far too many people wait too long to make an estate plan or they try to make a plan using DIY forms or programs and they end up paying the price because they didn’t have the right information or did not work within Connecticut laws.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates will ensure that you don’t make errors that could cost you or your loved ones and prevent you from leaving your desired legacy. Contact a Hartford estate planning attorney at our firm to avoid the serious consequences of estate planning errors, including some of the potential consequences listed below.

Your Will May Not Be Enforced

If you fail to follow legal formalities to make a valid will in the state of Connecticut, it is possible that your will won’t be probated. If you have not used other estate planning tools and you were counting on your will to determine what would happen to your assets, this could be a major catastrophe. If your will isn’t enforced and there are no alternative plans in place for the transfer of your assets, intestacy law would determine who inherits. This means that the people you wanted to leave an inheritance too many not get the financial gifts or transferred property that you hoped to provide them.

Your Trust May Not Provide the Desired Protections

Trusts are used for a wide variety of reasons, including protecting your assets in case you require costly nursing home care and making sure that minor children are provided for financially if something happens to you before your kids reach adulthood. If you don’t make the right type of trust or you fail to follow proper formalities for creating and funding your trust, it is possible that you won’t get the expected protections. For example, a revocable living trust will not protect your assets in case you want to try to qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care, so you could end up losing your wealth if you require costly nursing home services and cannot get Medicaid, Medicare or any private insurer to pay for those services.

Your Assets Could be Lost Due to a Big Estate Tax Bill

Estate tax can be very expensive and it can often be assessed even when the bulk of your estate is farmland that has appreciated in value or when the bulk of your estate is a family business. If estate tax is charged to your estate and there is not enough liquid assets to pay for the tax, your heirs or beneficiaries could end up being forced to sell the business or could end up being forced to sell farmland just to make certain that the tax can be paid. A company or a farm that should be handed down from one generation to the next could end up being lost simply because you have not put appropriate plans in place to make certain that estate taxes can be paid or to make certain these taxes can be avoided.

Getting Help from A Hartford Estate Planning Attorney

A Hartford estate planning attorney at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can provide you with personalized one-on-one advice to avoid the estate planning mistakes that could cause these undesirable consequences and to avoid the kinds of mistakes that could otherwise cost you and your loved ones.

You don’t want to make errors when your future and financial security is at stake, so give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online today. You can also join us for a free seminar to learn more about the estate planning process and the ways in which our legal team can help you to put a solid plan in place. Reach out now, don’t wait until it is too late.