Inheritance planning is very important in order to make sure that the needs of your heirs or beneficiaries are met. An inheritance planning attorney can provide you with assistance evaluating the needs of your loved ones who you wish to provide for after you are gone. 
Your attorney can help you to address the legal issues that could arise when you provide an inheritance, as well as other areas for concern — and then can offer assistance in how you can make effective use of legal tools to ensure that you have the right plans in place to provide an inheritance that ensures your loved ones are provided for.
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates has extensive experience with the inheritance planning process and we can put our legal knowledge and skill to work for you. Give us a call today to find out more about the help that we can offer. You can also read on to learn about some of the big problems that can arise if you do not do inheritance planning.
What Happens if You Don’t Do Inheritance Planning?
Making an inheritance plan involves taking the needs of your heirs or beneficiaries into account so you can ensure that an inheritance is structured in the best way possible to provide for and protect your loved ones.
If you do not go through this process, there are a number of possible problems that could arise. The issues that could occur are specific to your situation, but some of the potential problems that could happen without an inheritance plan include the following:
- Your heirs or beneficiaries could lose access to means-tested benefits. If you have disabled loved ones who are reliant upon Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or who are reliant upon Medicaid, providing an inheritance could result in a loss of access to benefits. There are ways you can avoid this through the use of a special needs trust but you will need to understand the risk of losing benefits and take the proper steps to create and fund an appropriate trust.
- The court might need to appoint a guardian to manage a minor’s inheritance. If you leave money to someone who is under 18, that person cannot manage the money on his or her own because he’s not legally an adult. It will be important for the right person to manage the funds on the child’s behalf. If you do not structure the inheritance in an appropriate way, then the court may appoint a guardian and that person might not be the person you’d have selected.
- Your heirs or beneficiaries could squander their inheritance. Not everyone is good with managing money. You don’t want your heirs or beneficiaries to end up wasting the inheritance you provided them with, so you may prefer to create a spendthrift trust. A spendthrift trust allows you to put a trusted person in charge of managing trust assets and to use those assets to provide for heirs or beneficiaries in accordance with your instructions. This way, you can ensure that the trust assets aren’t accessible to your irresponsible heir so the assets can’t be lost in bankruptcy and won’t be spent right away.
- Estate tax could be owed. If you have a larger estate and you leave assets to someone other than a spouse, it is possible you could end up with a substantial estate tax bill. This would mean less money going to your loved ones. You can work to reduce or avoid estate tax if you make an inheritance plan so your family can inherit your hard-earned wealth instead of the money going to the government.
There may also be other issues that occur based on your specific family situation. Every family is different, which is why it is so important for you to create a personalized inheritance plan with the help of an experienced attorney to make sure your loved ones are cared for.
Getting Help from Inheritance Planning Lawyers
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates will help you to make sure your heirs or beneficiaries are provided for in the most appropriate way through the effective use of legal tools that will protect their future. To find out more about how our firm can help you with the inheritance planning process, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online at any time for personalized one-on-one advice.
Mr. Nirenstein is licensed to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court. He is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations, and the Estate and Probate, Elder Law, Business Law and Real Estate Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association.
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