No one ever wants to plan for what will happen after a loved one’s death, let alone discuss their own. However, failure to consider the future almost guarantees difficult decisions for your relatives that may have to fight for and possibly lose assets. If this thought causes stress and overwhelm, we’re here to help.
Not sure where to get started? We wanted to put together an overview on estate planning to help provide you with a better understanding of why you need to prepare for the future and what major pitfalls you can avoid with proper guidance and planning. As a high-net-worth individual, you understand there is a lot to put at risk that could be avoided with some proactive and proper planning.
At ARQ Wealth, we are your trusted estate planning firm based in Scottsdale, AZ and we leverage our advisor’s average of 20 years of experience to help provide you with the peace of mind that you deserve.
Why Do You Need to Consider Estate Planning?
Whether you’re a senior or planning for the unexpected, consider many factors, from health decisions to funeral arrangements to dividing your assets. You want absolute control over everything to ensure you know who gets what and where your funds go.
Otherwise, your loved ones will be at the mercy of the probate court as it decides your estate’s fate. Not only will your family need to wait and wonder what they’ll get, but they’ll have to pay for an attorney, court fees, and the filing of legal documents. These tips save time, money, and heartache for high-net-worth individuals.
1. Why Estate Planning is Crucial
Your assets, funds, and dependents are constantly evolving. These changes make estate planning difficult, especially since you never know when a disaster will strike. Therefore, if you have a high-net-worth and your financial situation is more complex than the average individual, you may want to investigate putting your trust in a durable power of attorney to take control of your financial and personal items from something as simple as opening your mail to more complex items like selling real estate that you own.
For instance, imagine a sudden illness or death strikes, making you incapable of voicing decisions and leaving some finances in the air. You’ll need someone with quality estate planning advice to guide your family and care for your assets accordingly to avoid estate planning probate.
2. Should I Have a Will or a Living Trust?
A will and living trust help sort your assets to help you achieve your end-of-life goals. A will helps distribute to numerous beneficiaries alongside stating children’s guardians, estate executors, funeral plans, and other wishes after your death. A living trust sets funds and assets aside for the trustee that they can obtain immediately, but you can set rules or limit inheritance while you’re still alive.
A living trust, although advised against by some law firms because of its high initial cost, are more likely to protect your assets and ensure they end up in the right hands as opposed to wills. You can also modify and revoke the trust as you deem fit, and since you’re placing your estate in another’s name, they can avoid probate after your death.
Trusts also prevent the wrong people, including creditors, from obtaining or moving the trustee’s benefits. Still, living trusts aren’t necessarily better than wills, as they have different roles in the larger estate planning picture. Not sure where to start? Reach out to ARQ today as your trusted estate planning firm located in Scottsdale, AZ, we’ve helped clients for decades work towards their unique estate planning goals.
3. What’s the Relationship Between Investment Management and Estate Planning?
At ARQ Wealth, we are your comprehensive financial and estate planning firm and that helps turn what normally is complex processes into simpler steps for you and your family. Normally, if you had separate firms working on just estate planning, it could get complicated tracking all your various investment and savings accounts and getting a full picture of your financial situation.
When you have one firm take care of both aspects of your financial and estate planning, it means you can rest assured we will account for all your various accounts, real estate holdings, retirement accounts, etc.
Get the Estate Planning Solutions You Deserve – Reach out to ARQ Wealth Now
While estate planning normally can be complicated and frustrating, it’s even more difficult when you are a high-net-worth individual due to the added layers of complexity. Rather than trying to go through all of the confusing financial and legal work yourself, you could reach out to us today and sit down for a no-cost no-obligation planning session to see how we can best help you and your family.
At ARQ Wealth, our fee-only financial advisors in Scottsdale, AZ have an average of over 20 years of experience and a 98% customer retention rate. We strive to guarantee our full and professional personalized care to all our clients during the planning process. To get started and to contact us now you can click the following link here or call at (480) 214-9572!
