Estate planning has an unearned reputation of being expensive and difficult. While there are certainly situations that require complicated plans and stacks of documents, those are rare circumstances. The average person only needs a last will and maybe a few other protective documents in their estate plan.
Sitting down to create those documents doesn’t need to take a lot of time or cost a significant amount of money. Estate planning gives you peace of mind and control over your property and your own future when you die or reach a point where you can no longer handle your affairs on your own.
Although Minnesota does have intestate succession laws that will determine how to split up your property if you die without a last will, it can cost a lot of money for your estate to go through probate court. Investing in an estate plan might be the cheaper option of the two.
How much does probate cost? What about estate planning?
Probate court isn’t cheap, regardless of whether there’s a challenge against an estate plan or a complete lack of a last will. If your estate winds up dragged through probate, the costs of that process will consume between 3% and 7% of the estate’s total value on average.
Some cases involving conflict between family members could cost far more than that. When you compare that of an average cost of between $300 and $1,000 to carefully plan your own estate, there’s no question which option will be more expensive.
Basically, if your estate includes a newer motor vehicle or any real estate, the cost of probate will far exceed the cost of a basic estate plan. Creating a last will now and then sharing at least the basics of your plan with your family members can reduce the likelihood of probate costs eating into your legacy.
There’s no time like the present to take control over your future
An estate plan protects your wishes and the people that you love. It can also protect you if you include documents about your medical wishes or to protect you if you experience medical incapacitation in the future.
Taking the time to create an estate plan now protects your legacy and empowers you with the confidence of knowing that you have arranged for the people you care about the most if anything were to happen to you.
