Hartford elder law lawyers can work with you to make a plan to protect your legacy. Making a legacy plan is one of the most important things you can do, as you never know when something will happen to you and you do not want your loved ones to be left unprotected or your wealth to be lost. You have worked hard to acquire property and earn money and you deserve to be in control of what happens to the estate that you have built. Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates is here to help you use the legal tools necessary to control your legacy.
There are many steps involved in legacy planning and asset protection and one of the key steps that you will need to take is to make certain that your loved ones know exactly where your assets are.
Far too many people end up spending too much money during the probate process to track down assets simply because no advanced plans have been made— and you don’t want this to happen to your loved ones and cause the value of an inheritance to be reduced. To make sure that your wealth is accessible to your loved ones and is able to pass down easily to the next generation, contact the Hartford elder law lawyers at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates today to find out how our firm can help you.
Why Does Your Family Need to Know Where Your Assets Are?
When you pass away, if you have created a last will and testament, an executor of an estate will oversee the process of transferring your assets to your chosen heirs or beneficiaries. The executor of an estate will have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of you and your heirs and will need to begin the probate process in a timely manner and make an accounting of all estate assets.
When the executor of an estate begins to identify all of the assets that must pass on to the new owners after your death, you do not want any assets to be missed because the executor and your family are unaware of them. This is why it is so important for you to have a plan for the transfer of all of your assets, whether this transfer takes place in accordance with your instructions in a last will and testament or through other means like trusts or pay-on-death accounts. If no one knows you own a particular asset, it may not be transferred properly to new owners.
The executor of an estate also must find the assets that you have made provisions for you in your last will and testament or through the use of other estate planning tools. This can be a problem if it is not clear where your money and property is. The executor could be forced to hire an investigator to track down missing assets if you have not made it clear to your loved ones where your wealth actually is held.
The costs of paying for an investigator to find missing assets could reduce the amount of money and property that is available to pass on to new owners. The process of an investigation to find missing assets could also make the probate process take even longer, adding to the costs associated with probate and resulting in your family members facing hardship if they were counting on an inheritance.
Getting Help From Hartford Elder Law Lawyers
Hartford elder law lawyers at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can work closely with you to ensure that you and your family are protected by your estate plan. Among the different ways that our legal team can help with your estate plan is assisting you in making it easy for your family to find your assets.
While you may assume you have plenty of time to put your plans in place, life is uncertain and there is always a risk that something could happen to you. To find out more about the legal tools you can use to ensure your assets can transfer as quickly and easily as possible to new owners, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online to get personalized one-on-one advice about making your estate plan to take control of your legacy. Give us a call today find out more.
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