The reason you need to develop your own personal estate plan is because at your death everybody wants a part of the assets that you have accumulated in your lifetime. Depending on the size of your estate the federal government may take up to 55% of what you have accumulated. The state where you live wants some of your assets as well. The courts, your creditors, attorneys, accountants, appraisers, morticians and so on, want some of your money and all of them get to collect their part of your estate before your loved ones. Most have a variable amount of money they can take from your estate. They would all like to have the maximum amount, but with proper planning and funding you can hold them to a minimum amount.

By developing a modern estate plan prior to your death, you can eliminate some costs, reduce most costs, postpone others, and significantly reduce the shrinkage in your estate. Here are four easy steps and one recommendation to complete a money saving estate plan. If you would like to discuss any one of these in greater detail, please give me a call at 713-686-5433 (in Houston) or if you're outside of Houston at 1-800-543-3289.

Step I- Make a rough list of all your assets that will be distributed at death. You don't have to be specific because your assets are likely to change before you pass away. Your assets are your home, your savings, your life insurance, your investments, and anything of value you own. This is the same information you would list for a financial statement.

Step II- Decide who you would like to receive these assets and also who if they didn't need the assets or predeceased you, should then receive the assets.

Step III- Call me, Joe Assad, at 1-800-543-3289 or in Houston at 713-686-5433.  In a short phone conversation I can give you an idea of what costs your estate will incure at your death.  We will work with your attorney to help you set up an effective, efficient plan to minimize your costs that will save your heirs money. 

If you don’t have an attorney or your attorney doesn’t do this type of work, we will help you find an attorney in your area who does.  An attorney is critical to proper estate planning and one who is good at estate planning will help you understand and use provisions in the law that other successful Americans are using to minimize expenses and taxes.  The documents he prepares can protect the assets you have worked so hard to create while they are being distributed to your heirs and even after they receive them.

If after estate planning wills and trusts are set up there remain taxes or other expenses to be paid at your death.  We can show you the most efficient way to pay them.

Step IV: Maintenance- Things can change ever so often. You should review your wills, trusts and plans every few years to see if everything is still as you want it. Ask your attorney to notify you if there is a change in the law that would affect your estate plan. We try to notify our clients of changes that may affect the policies or plans but attorneys do a better job of keeping up with changes in the law and they should be relied on to keep you updated. You should set a specific date each year to review your estate plan. Many use the day after Thanksgiving since family members who may be trustees, beneficiaries and/or executors are present and there is more than a month to transact any business that needs to be done before the end of the year.

Recommendation: One of the hardest things to do in estate planning is to do it. If you are like most people, your family, your business and many other things are more exciting and challenging than developing and executing an estate plan. Very few people complete an estate plan without a third party to guide them through the process. Though we only get paid for the sale of life insurance, we are willing to assist you in completing your estate plan until the job is done. Just call Joe Assad at 713-686-5433 or 1-800-543-3289 and we will get started