The purpose of estate planning is to provide for passing a person’s property after death to other people. There are other goals. The other goals of estate planning are minimizing taxes, providing for liquidity, protecting persons who are to receive the property and minimize paperwork.
But, there is more to estate planning. Taking care of business requires planning for future contingencies as well. The basic tool for estate planning is the will. In order to meet contingencies other than death, you need to have other documents which can be used to protect you and your family in the event you are not able to do things for yourself. You need to provide for guardianships for you and your children, appoint someone to act as your power of attorney to handle financial matters as well as medical treatment and provide for the situation where you’re suffering from a terminal condition. Each of these emergency documents are discussed later on in this chapter. The following are the basic parts of a good plan. More complex planning methods are described at the end of this volume.
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