Creating an estate plan is an important step in ensuring your loved ones honor your final wishes and are financially stable after you pass away. To best way to know you have a comprehensive plan without any issues is to seek the guidance of an estate planning attorney.

However, before you meet with this legal professional, there are a few factors to keep in mind before your scheduled appointment:

• Assets: The first step of estate planning is having a clear understanding of your assets and debts. Take inventory of everything you own, such as your bank accounts, retirement accounts, real estate, life insurance policies, and business interests; this lets you organize everything easily and helps you see what to leave to your beneficiaries.  
• Beneficiaries: Next comes the process of distributing your assets upon your death. This is when you’ll name your spouse and children as heirs and consider whether to have primary and contingent beneficiaries. Also, make sure you list everyone you wish to allocate specific gifts to. Once you’ve determined how to disperse your property, the estate planning attorney can help you put it in writing.
• Guardianship: This is one of the most crucial parts of the estate planning process. Drafting a will gives you the opportunity to designate a guardian for your children. Failing to name someone will leave the choice up to the courts.
• Executor: When it’s time for your estate to be administered, you want the right person to oversee the settlement of your affairs. This is the role of the executor; it plays an integral part in carrying out your final wishes. Have a few names in mind when you meet with your attorney and reasons why they are good candidates.  
• Power of Attorney: Estate planning should focus on what happens after your death and what will take place in the event you become incapacitated. Naming someone you trust as your power of attorney will let them make financial and medical decisions on your behalf.

By thinking over each of these elements before visiting your estate planning attorney, you’ll have the most productive meeting possible. When the residents of Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, and Lake Norman, NC, need professional assistance with the estate planning process, they turn to The Law Office of J. Baron Groshon. Over the last three decades, he has utilized his legal expertise in wills and estates to help clients put together a solid plan that will protect them and their loved ones in the future. Contact his office at (704) 342-2876, or visit him online for additional information.