New Jersey residents likely understand how important it is to have an estate plan in place. Despite the important role in serves, many will postpone drafting these documents because they do not want to think about his or her own death or a situation where they are deemed incapacitated. Although some postpone this process because they are young and believe it is something to take care of later in life, others decide to push the estate planning process back because they believe it is too costly.
Costs of an estate plan
Although the price tag of a necessary document should not matter, the reality is that it does. The costs of drafting these documents and completing an estate plan could serve a significant role in the decision to draft an estate plan or wait until a later date. However, individuals are likely to be more stressed and deterred from this process because they do not fully understand it or even the basics of it. Thus, it is not only important to understand the legal rules and processes, but it is also vital to grasp the overall costs associated with it.
Getting into the nitty-gritty costs of creating an estate plan can be difficult to gauge, as each individual has different needs, wishes and assets. However, it is possible to create a basic plan for as little as $150 to $200. But this is just a basic plan and will likely need to be revisited as life events causes changes. In contrast, a more complex plan could cost around $300 per hour to draft. This could result in it cost thousands of dollars. Note, that there is no one size fits all estate plan, and many factors come into play was determining the cost of this process.
The basics of estate planning
The core reason for creating an estate plan is to protect one’s interests as well as the interests of one’s family. Without an estate plan in place, everything an individual worked hard for, including money, property and valuables, could end up in the hands of a person he or she does not want. Additionally, without explicitly directing who gets what, a serious legal tug of war could emerge among family members or heirs. An estate plan could reduce the chances of this.
When deciding to create an estate plan, it is important to understand your goals. Having your goals and objective clearly stated can help move the process forward and could make the process more budget-friendly. Thus, it is vital to explore ones options whether they are creating an estate plan or taking steps to update a current plan.
