When you are planning your estate, you may be consumed with topics including asset protection, selecting beneficiaries and other common aspects of coordinating a plan for your future. While these preparations can give you peace of mind, they can also aid in helping you to continue to support your spouse even after your death. At Codispoti & Associates, P.C., we have helped many people in New York to articulate their wishes in a concise and organized estate plan.
Failure to think about your future and take steps to create a plan that details the assets you have as well as how you would like them to be used can have several detrimental side effects. Among those, your surviving family may have considerable financial stress as they work relentlessly to pay off your debts, coordinate your funeral and pay for taxes that you still owe. Another disadvantage is that your family may disagree on how to split or use your remaining assets of monetary value.
According to AARP, some of the most important efforts that you can make in planning for your spouse’s future after your death include the following:
- Have open discussions about your funeral plans.
- Agree on who you want to have listed as your beneficiaries on all legal documents.
- Maintain a conclusive list of all of the bills that should be paid, so your spouse can confidently take over the financial obligations when you pass away.
- Sit down with your spouse and regularly review your estate plan to identify areas where modifications should be made.
When you plan and involve your spouse in making important decisions about your estate plan, you can feel confident about leaving your spouse in good hands when you pass away. For more information about planning your estate, visit our web page.