What is an estate?
The estate holds whatever a person owned on the date of death. Instead of belonging to the now deceased owner, we say it is an asset of the estate of the owner. There are many particular aspects of an estate; there is the probate estate, the taxable estate, etc. Depending on the size of an estate and the family of the client, the approach to estate planning can take different routes.
The goal of estate planning is to make arrangements so that an estate is passed along to beneficiaries or the next generation in a smooth, timely, and least costly manner as possible.
A last will and testament, a trust, TOD or ITF bank accounts are all types of estate planning tools.
As we age and our family and life situations evolve, it’s prudent to evaluate and update estate plan accordingly.
