You might think that you do not really need an estate plan so there is no point in spending money to get a proper one drawn up. However, that just means that your estate will have to pay more later to do the planning that you did not do.
Estate planning is never free. If you go to an experienced estate planning attorney, then you have to pay for the attorney’s time to create a proper estate plan for you. Some people would rather not pay, so they do not get estate plans. Instead, they expect that their family and the courts will be able to easily handle everything after they pass away.
In reality, they actually will “pay” for an estate plan, as the Green Bay Press-Gazette points out in “Estate planning: Pay now or pay later.”
The truth is that it is far more expensive not to have an estate plan than to have one. If your estate has to hire an attorney to sort out your affairs after you pass away and go to court to get a judge’s approval for everything, then that is going to cost a lot more than going to an attorney and getting an estate plan.
Not having an estate can cost your estate in other ways as well. For example, you may have to pay a higher estate tax bill and miss out on the best, cheapest ways to transfer wealth from one generation to another.
Actually getting an estate plan for most people is much easier and cheaper than you probably assume it is. There is no reason not to go ahead and get one, especially since not doing so will just cost your family more money later.
Yes, you do tend to get what you pay for.
Reference: Green Bay Press-Gazette (Aug. 1, 2016) “Estate planning: Pay now or pay later.”
