When should I consider setting up an estate plan?
This is a great question because there’s a myth out there that you have to be a certain age or have a certain amount of wealth before you set up an estate plan and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our estate planning attorneys have helped people as young as 18 years old and over 100 set up their estate plan.
Now, of course, those are very different plans for an 18 year old and someone older, but their estate plans nonetheless. If you’re 18 years old, you at least need a health care directive and financial power of attorney as part of your estate plan, so that if you can’t speak for yourself, someone can step in and speak for you. You’re 18 now, so it’s not mom and dad automatically anymore. You’re an adult and then somewhere along life’s course when you have something or someone to protect, we add a will or we add a living trust to your estate plan and it evolves as you do now.
If you have nothing in place and any of the three following things apply, it’s a good time to sit down and set up your estate plan. You have minor children.You have any real property in California. By real property I mean your house, a condo, a studio, vacant land in the middle of the desert. If you have real property in California, whether or not it has a mortgage, it doesn’t matter. You really need to set up your estate plan if you have anything of value over $166,000.00 Those are the big three triggers to definitely get your estate plan together
If you have any questions around what should be in your estate plan or whether you need a plan at all, always feel free to reach out and ask any questions. Our estate planning attorneys in San Diego are here and we’re happy to help.
Related post: 4 Benefits of Having an Estate Plan
