California Estate Planning During a Recession or Crisis

Estate Planning Is a Form of Risk Management

Your estate is basically all the assets you own, including your home, property, cars, bank accounts, and personal possessions. So, it’s important that you protect it by having an estate plan. If you do not have a will, a trust, or a comprehensive list of beneficiary designations, you expose yourself and your loved ones to the rigors of California probate. However, far too few Americans have estate plans. Recent surveys suggest that scarcely half the population has a will.

People delay estate planning for any number of reasons. They might believe the time and money needed to draft a will could better be used elsewhere—or that they still have decades to begin creating a plan. Especially during times of crisis, estate planning is rarely considered a priority and is an often overlooked means of reducing risk.

Risk Management During a Time of Crisis

Transfer risk

A life insurance policy, for instance, ensures that your loved ones have the means to sustain themselves and prosper in the event you can no longer provide for them.

Avoid risk

An estate planning attorney can help you avoid risk while you are still alive, transferring your assets to a trust or other holding that cannot easily be disrupted by events such as divorce, bankruptcy, or creditor claims.

Reduce risk

A comprehensive estate plan could help you reduce risk to your assets and heirs, whether by minimizing beneficiaries’ potential tax obligations or shifting wealth to preserve a loved one’s eligibility for government benefits.

Conquer risk

An unavoidable risk, such as a volatile stock, could be incorporated into an estate plan. For example, you could include a closely held investment in an estate to reap the rewards of a stepped-up tax basis.

How an Estate Planning Attorney Can Help

By identifying and categorizing different threats to your estate, including taxes, asset mismanagement, disability, and premature death
By assessing your vulnerability to different forms of risk
By determining the level of risk you face
By identifying and suggesting different strategies to reduce your risk.
By considering ongoing crises to prioritize relevant risk reduction measures

Common Estate Planning Protection Strategies

Your estate plan could help you minimize the possibility of short- and long-term loss by providing the opportunities and tools you need to appraise and address current risks while anticipating future problems.

Making Informed Decision About Your CA Estate Plan

Inheritance

While a simple will cannot help your family escape the rigors of California probate, it protects your assets from the travails of an intestate succession.

Guardianship

Your estate plan provides an opportunity to designate a guardian for your minor children, ensuring they are raised by a trusted loved one who shares your values.

Health care

An advanced health care directive lets you leave detailed care instructions in the event you are ever incapacitated due to physical injury, cognitive decline, or old age.

Wealth

Ideally, your estate plan should not only provide an intergenerational legacy but offer some benefit while you are still alive. A carefully considered revocable living trust, for instance, could not only shield your assets and property holdings from future creditors but reduce your existing tax obligation.

California Estate Planning During a Recession or Crisis

Estate Planning Is a Form of Risk Management

Risk Management During a Time of Crisis

Transfer risk

Avoid risk

Reduce risk

Conquer risk

Estate Planning Helps You Better Understand Your Assets

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How an Estate Planning Attorney Can Help

Common Estate Planning Protection Strategies

Making Informed Decision About Your CA Estate Plan

Inheritance

Guardianship

Health care

Wealth

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