Upon a person’s death, absent proper estate planning measures made during life, most or all of that person’s assets may require a probate proceeding in order to transfer those assets to their intended beneficiaries and avoid those assets going to the State of California through a process known as “escheat.”  Absent proper estate planning measures, the decedent’s property could go to completely unintended beneficiaries, creditors, unnecessary attorneys’ fees and probate administration costs, and be further to subject to easily avoidable federal and state estate tax obligations.   Luckily, there is a simple way you can avoid all of these potential problems before the time comes to distribute your assets.

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Further, estate planning offers a mechanism for you to keep control of your life and affairs in the unfortunate event of incapacity. Incapacity often is caused by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, but can also be caused by traumatic injuries arising out of improper medical care or motor vehicle accidents.  So, both the elderly and the young are susceptible to incapacity at all stages of their lives. Absent planning for incapacity by providing legally enforceable guidance and authority to a fiduciary, decisions regarding whether you should live at home or be placed in a facility upon incapacity, decisions regarding whether you should be resuscitated and under what circumstances, among many others intimate and highly personal decisions that will have a profound impact on your quality of life may be made by emergency room doctors, government agents, or others who know nothing about you.  Again, proper estate planning can greatly alleviate these risks.

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