Estate planning is one of the most important decisions that you can make. It helps ensure that your family is taken care of and that you can be in control over where your children go and who will take care of everyone. With the right lawyer to help take care of these plans, you can make sure that all of the documents are legal and that everyone is going to be protected.

To keep things simple, estate planning is going to be the preparation of tasks that will serve to manage all of your assets in case you are incapable of doing so or because of death. This can help list out how your assets will be given to the heirs and how to handle any estate taxes that may come up. Most of the time these are set up with the help of an attorney to make sure they meet all state and local laws in your area.

The most basic step that comes with estate planning is going to involve writing a will. This is just one step to the whole process though. As you work through estate planning, you will need to work through some of the following steps with your lawyer:

1. Limit the amount of estate taxes by setting up some trust accounts in the names of your beneficiaries.
2. Establishing who will be the guardian if you have any living dependents.
3. Naming the executor of the estate to help oversee some of the terms of the will.
4. Creating or updating beneficiaries on plans like 401(k)s, IRAs and life insurance
5. Setting up some of the funeral arrangements as necessary.
6. Establishing annual gifting to the right charities that you wish, helping to reduce the amount of the estate that can be taxed.
7. Setting up the different types of power of attorney that you need based on your unique situation and the amount of help that you will need.

Each of these can be an important part to estate planning and with a good lawyer by your side, the process does not need to be difficult at all.

Estate planning may seem like a lot of unnecessary work for those who are younger or may feel like they do not need this done because they do not have a lot of assets. But if you have any assets, are married, or have children and want any control over what happens when you pass on, you should find the right wills and estates lawyers in Calgary to help you stay protected and to get your estate planning done.