Many Texas families try to avoid the topic of estate planning at all costs. Whether it is because of the complexity involved or they simply do not want to talk about mortality, they are often afraid to broach the topic. However, people do themselves a disservice when they fail to put an estate plan into place.
Estate planning is more than just putting a will down on paper and signing it. Of course, this alone is important, but there are more parts of an estate plan that will help a family get peace of mind now and in the future. For example, an estate plan can help put the directives in place that can determine medical care decisions in the future when someone is no longer able to make decisions on their own. It can also dictate choices and decisions when it comes to raising children and caring for others.
It is vital to tackle estate planning one step at a time in order to take some of the fear factor out of it. The best way to start is to gather a list of decisions that may need to be made and proceeding from there. Estate planning is not something that is reserved for rich people. Instead, every family needs a plan in place if there are loved ones and decisions to be made.
An estate planning attorney may help take some of the mystery out of the process and could educate their client on what steps need to be taken. Estate planning is one area where people may not benefit from a DIY approach given the need to get every document correct. Otherwise, plans may not be effective when there are errors in the documents and families realize only when it is too late.