Are you focusing on your goals and resolutions as you begin the New Year? This year did you focus your resolutions on getting organized or adding new and better habits? We know you have many plans in regard to how you will achieve your resolutions but we would like to share one that is both easy and critical to complete!
We believe that the most important New Year’s resolution you can make this year is to create or update your Connecticut estate plan. The estate plan that you create this year can protect you during your lifetime and your estate when you pass away. Do you already have a Connecticut estate plan in place? That is excellent news! If you already have an estate plan in place, be sure that your estate plan is and remains updated to reflect your most current circumstances and goals. Your estate planning attorney will be sure that your choices and wishes surrounding your health care and finances are honored by your chosen decision maker. By creating a legacy you will have the peace of mind that your family will be provided for when you pass away.
A Connecticut estate plan has many potential benefits so make this resolution your number one priority and begin as soon as possible! If you have an existing estate plan, it is important to review it as soon as possible and ensure that it still meets your needs. Again, to maximize the potential benefits a Connecticut estate plan has to offer, it is not only necessary to put the plan in place sooner rather than later, but to also use a variety of legal planning tools to address, among other things, how your assets will be managed and distributed in the event of your death or incapacity. Without question we know you are aware that many changes can happen within your family, your business, and your finances in a year. Therefore, it is important to make sure your estate plan remains effective in not only encapsulating the desired future for you and your loved ones, but also has the best tools in place to accomplish those goals. That being stated, it means that when there is a birth, death, divorce, or other life update or changes in laws, you should make it a priority, and an achievable resolution, to work with your attorney to determine if your estate plan needs any updates or significant changes.
Your Connecticut estate planning attorney can discuss with you the importance of lifetime planning tools such as the durable power of attorney for your finances and related health care documents like the living will. Your attorney can also help you decide who should be your decision maker, and back up decision maker, in times of crisis or in an emergency situation. Your attorney can also discuss with you the difference between will based estate planning and trust based estate planning. While a will is subject to the probate court, a trust is not. You can make it one of your achievable resolutions to learn more about these two planning tools, as well as how a trust can be a very versatile estate planning vehicle to help protect and distribute your assets.
Further, our firm does even more than estate planning. We are your local advocates for:
• Estate planning
• Elder Law and Title 19 Planning
• Probate and Trust Administration
• Real Estate
• Risk Mitigation or Litigation
• Civil Litigation
• Personal Injury
We encourage you to reach out to us on any legal challenge you face and let our experienced team of attorneys go to work for you. The Northeast Law Center provides the experience and expertise of five seasoned attorneys to help guide you through the complexities of life and law. Our team of lawyers can offer personal counsel, services and solutions. The result? Personal, family and/or corporate protection, security and future success.
We know this article may raise more questions than it answers. We want to help you achieve the New Year’s resolution of having a Connecticut estate plan that can meet your needs. The Northeast Law Center practices law in many Connecticut counties including Hartford, New London, Tolland and Windham. We encourage you to contact us and schedule a meeting.