How Not Having an Estate Plan Can Hurt Your Family

It’s very common to come across news stories about disputes that arise after a famous or wealthy person has died. These family conflicts often lead to broken family relationships that can never be healed. Having an estate plan will go a long way in helping to avoid these types of family conflicts. Not having a plan, on the other hand, can lead to all sorts of difficulties.

1. Fighting over your care.
Estate plans allow you to select the person who will make decisions for you if you lose your decision-making abilities. Without a plan, your family may have to go to court and ask the court to name an adult guardian. If the family cannot agree on who that guardian should be, the ensuing fight can cost a lot of money and damage family relationships.

2. Fighting over children
If you are a parent with a young child; who will be named the guardian if you and the child’s other parent should die? If you don’t have a will that names a guardian, the court will have to make this decision. Your family may end up fighting a legal battle over the guardianship nomination if they cannot come to an agreement.

3. Fighting over inheritances.
In many situations where a family fights over an inheritance, the inheritance at issue is not vast amounts of wealth but rather sentimental items or family heirlooms. A good estate plan specifically addresses all inheritance questions, including who gets to receive family heirlooms and other important items. Failing to have a plan can easily lead to hard feelings, legal disputes, and a breakdown of family relationships.

Experienced estate planning attorneys Grand Forks ND of the Raymond J. German, LTD. offers estate planning and business planning resources to residents of Grand Forks ND. To learn more about these free resources, please visit www.raygerman.com today.