Who Needs Estate Planning in San Diego? You Will Be Surprised

From the Desk of Estate Planning Attorney, San Diego, Carmel Valley, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Kristina R. Hess

Do You Need an Estate Planning Attorney in San Diego? You will be surprised….

Contrary to what some believe, San Diego estate planning attorneys aren’t here just for the wealthiest members of our community. In fact, after years of experience we have come to see how nearly every person in San Diego can benefit from putting together an estate plan, including a will. I often hear people who own their homes and have retirement accounts say, “We don’t have much.” Estate planning and legacy building isn’t just for the ultra-wealthy – it is really for everyone!  I know that not only do you want to give what you have to whom  you want, when you want, you want to make sure that you are taken care of if you ever became incapacitated!

Here in Carmel Valley, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, and our other neighboring communities, you may be surprised to learn that you and your family could really benefit from working with an Estate Planning Attorney…

Make Your Estate More Valuable

The idea of making an estate more valuable should be important to those who don’t consider themselves to be “wealthy.” With the help of a good estate planning lawyer, you can work toward a more comfortable future, as well as to maximize the assets that you do have. With a retirement plan, life insurance, and other planning tools, things can start to look a lot different than you expected. Not only that, but you’ll also be able to leave an inheritance and legacy behind for your loved ones.

Protect Your Privacy (and Your Family’s)

When working with an estate planning attorney in San Diego, you will want to look at the possibility of setting up some sort of living trust (or a revocable inter vivos trust). There are many, many advantages to having a trust, but one of those that resonates with a lot of people in San Diego County is the fact that assets placed into a trust do not necessarily have to go through the very public probate court process. This affords significantly more privacy regarding your estate, what you’ve left behind, and other details that you’d prefer to keep private.

Name Guardians for Your Children

No matter how much money you’ve got in the bank or elsewhere, if you have minor children, there is no question that you need to hire an estate planning attorney to draw up guardianship and other important planning documents. If you become incapacitated or pass away without these incredibly important papers legally filed, then you are basically giving the court system carte blanch to determine what happens to your children. They make these decisions based on certain legal precedents, and there is a dangerously high chance that the guardian chosen for your children under 18 will NOT be the person you would have chosen. This should be enough to send pretty much every parent in San Diego, Carmel Valley, running to a good estate planning attorney!

Do It While You Can

It’s not uncommon for San Diego residents to want to put off estate planning until they absolutely have to think about it. The problem that they and their estate planning attorney run into, however, is that you can wait too long. When putting together a will or other estate planning documents, the court needs to be satisfied that you are of sound mind and body. If you’ve recently found out you’re gravely ill or are losing cognitive function, an estate plan can be rendered invalid on those grounds.

The bottom line is that nearly everyone in San Diego would end up in a better position by working with an estate planning attorney. From professional retirement planning to naming guardians to protecting your own privacy and more, if you haven’t yet started the process, now is definitely the time.

Create Your Legacy Today!

Trust Attorney, Kristina R. Hess