As president of Ziebold Law Group in California, Mark Ziebold focuses on estate planning, tax planning, and related areas. Mark Ziebold has helped numerous clients to develop a strategy for distributing their assets after death.
Estate planning is a complicated process, and a person can easily make costly mistakes if he or she lacks the guidance of a qualified professional. For example, may people make an estate plan and then never look at it again. This can mean that when the person does pass away and the document becomes active, it may not reflect the most recent wishes of the decedent. It may also be based on superseded laws and procedures, which can interfere with the plan's execution and impact the beneficiaries in negative ways.
Experts recommend that estate owners review their estate plans at least every five years or when major changes occur in the tax laws. This allows them to change beneficiary designations as necessary and ensure that asset ownership meets current needs. A divorce or remarriage, for example, may cause an estate owner to need to change certain joint asset arrangements or power of attorney designations and in many states a divorce will automatically void some or all of the estate planning documents in place.
Estate owners may also make a point of discussing the plan with heirs. While some clients wish to keep things completely private and hidden from children and heirs, this creates the possibility of unrealized expectations in the children which can cause conflict after the client's death. Not discussing things with heirs and children can lead to emotional and even costly misunderstandings, or to a plan that fails to meet the needs and preferences of the parties involved, which costs everyone more in the long run.
Finally, it is important for all estate owners to keep detailed records of their assets and how they will be distributed. This step also gives the estate owner the opportunity to check the tax implications of each distribution, a potentially complicated process when different accounts, trusts, and other vehicles are involved. Doing so becomes much easier when an estate planning expert is involved, as he or she can provide explanations every step of the way.
