Estate planning is an essential tool for transferring a person’s wealth and assets after his or her death. This can include real estate, life insurance, pensions, property, a business, personal belongings, and debts.

Effective estate planning creates the smallest possible tax burden for the people who inherit assets, ensuring that unexpected costs don’t thwart your wishes. Even with just a little bit of planning, couples can reduce or eliminate federal and state estate taxes and state inheritance taxes.

An estate plan assures that your home, finances, and other assets can provide for your family, even after you are gone. That’s why everyone, regardless of how much they’re able to leave for their family, can benefit from estate planning.

Estate Planning allows for the proper and desired asset transfer at death, minimization of estate taxes, and avoidance of probate. A will is a legal instrument used in estate planning that is a set of instructions for probate.

While wills and trusts are both used to pass assets on to beneficiaries, there are distinct differences:

•  A trust can be used to avoid probate court (and probate costs).
• Unlike a will, a trust can provide creditor protection for beneficiaries — the inheritance won’t be lost to creditors such as credit card companies, bankruptcy filings, or a lawsuit, for example.
• A trust can protect the beneficiary’s needs-based government disability benefits.
• Unlike a will, trusts can reduce estate taxes.
• A trust can administer assets to minor beneficiaries without the involvement of the courts.