by Michelle Tuesday

Created on: November 20, 2009

Estate planning is not easy for a variety of reasons. You have to deal with the possibility that you will die someday. You must handle the politics that go along with making decisions that might be unpopular and leave heirs disgruntled. In some cases, you may pay legal fees, and, plain and simple, the pure logistics of the whole process are a pain.

But if you don't address it before you die, you leave the decision to others. Do you want the state of Iowa to distribute your estate as it sees fit? Enlisting the help of an attorney now is the best thing to do, because you just never know what the future brings. As difficult as this is to digest, what if you perish tomorrow? What will happen to your belongings then? In fact, what if you're carrying debt? What will happen? Will your surviving spouse be required to carry the burden?

If you establish a last will and testament, you can document in writing exactly what you would like to happen to your belongings in the event of your death. It's important that your will be valid. In order to write a valid will, you must be either eighteen years old or married, you must be of sound mind, and you must write the will voluntarily. In Iowa, your will must be in writing, and you must sign it in the presence of at least two disinterested witnesses, which means that neither witness may be a named beneficiary in your will.

If you decide that one or more of your heirs need ongoing assets rather than one-time gifts of property, you may choose to establish trusts or life insurance policies. If you choose do to so, it is not necessary to list them in your will, since they will already have beneficiaries named.

Now that you have your plan in place, decide how you would like to document your estate plan. You need to write a will, establish any trusts as necessary, and purchase any life insurance policies as appropriate based on the distribution of assets that you have established.

If you don't plan ahead, and document your plan so that the courts have access to your wishes, you can't count on them to comply with your wishes. After all, they can't read your mind when you're alive, let alone after you have perished. If you need further assistance with your estate planning needs, you should hire an attorney to help you.

For more information about estate planning in the state of Iowa, refer to http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM993. pdf.

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