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Estate planning is thr process of creating an estate plan, providing you with alternatives to Probate. It allows you to consider and create legal, effective arrangements that will meet your specific wishes if something happens to you or those you care about. On the financial side, a good estate plan coordinates what is to happen with your home, your investments, your business, your life insurance, your employee benefits (such as a 401K plan), and other property in the event you become disabled or pass on. On the personal side, a good estate plan typically minimizes potential taxes and fees, and can include contingency plans on your wishes regarding health care matters; so, in the event that you are unable to give these directions yourself, someone you select can manage your requests for you.

A will and a trust are similar in that both let you designate exactly how you want your assets and other personal property to be distributed to your friends, family, and other loved ones after you die. A will must be filed in the probate court, but a trust is administered outside of the probate court. This can save the family thousands of dollars in legal fees and court costs.

We say the sooner the better. The only time that you can prepare and implement an estate plan is (as one would deduce) while you are alive and have the legal capacity to enter into a contract. If you are unable to manage your own affairs before then, or suffer from some a disability that affects your legal capacity, your estate plan may be effectively challenged by those who assert that 1) you lacked capacity at the time the documents were created, or 2) that you were subjected to fraud, coercion, or undue influence during the creation and implementation of your plan.