By Julius Choudhury
When you die, someone else will inherit your home and possessions. Without doing your own estate planning, you won’t get a say as to who inherits this property. Here are some tips for making sure that your estate is handled correctly.
Setting up a will
Writing a will allows you to decide exactly who inherits your property after you die. Without a beneficiary, the intestacy laws of your state will be used to determine exactly who inherits your property.
In most cases there are multiple beneficiaries, who may all receive certain shares in property or assets. An executor is worth choosing - this is the person in charge of distributing your property to all the right people.
You can write a will without the help of a lawyer. However, if you don’t want certain wishes to be misconstrued or you have a relatively complex estate, it could benefit you to get it professionally written so that you know everything is going to end up in the right place.
It’s never too early to write a will. Tragedies can occur at any time and it can serve as a peace of mind knowing that you’re prepared. You can also alter a will at a later stage if you change your mind as to who should inherit your property.
Life estate or death deed?
You should also consider how your loved one will inherit your property. You could choose to reserve a life estate - this allows the grantee to own an interest in the property while you are still alive, before then assuming full ownership when you pass away. A transfer on death deed is different in that you assume full control of the property until you die.
Both have their benefits, so it’s worth researching into the two of them. An attorney can help you to choose between the two.
What about property with tenants?
If you rent out property to tenants, this too should be left to a beneficiary. You may want to talk with your beneficiary about what their plans will be when you die - they may be happy taking on the role of landlord or they may prefer to sell it, in which cases tenants will have to be evicted. Choose a suitable loved one that you think is able to handle this role.
Sorting out your possessions
On top of your home and any real estate that you rent out, your individual possessions are worth considering. There may be certain items that you want to go to particular people that could include jewellery or sentimental objects - this can all be decided in your will.
It’s unlikely you’ll decide a beneficiary for every individual item in your possession. This could be particularly the case if you’ve got a lot of clutter in your home. ‘Death cleaning’ has become a popular form of decluttering that could be worth looking into if you own a lot of stuff - this involves getting rid of items to help reduce the stress of decluttering for those left behind.
