When it comes to estate planning for Maryland residents, some people probably think it will go one of two ways: it will be easy or it will be complex. Of course, no two estate plans are the same, so the ease or complexity of the process will be heavily dependent on the individual financial and family dynamics of any given person. However, no matter the situation, paying attention to details is paramount when it comes to estate planning.
A recent news article noted that trying to gauge how smooth the estate planning process will be for an individual oftentimes doesn’t really depend on how much a person has in assets. As the article indicated, sometimes people believe that a higher net worth will result in a complicated estate plan setup. However, oftentimes it is the nature of the assets, not their worth, that can lead to something more than a simple estate plan.
For example, owning property, such as real estate or vehicles, as well as retirement accounts or banking accounts, means that each asset oftentimes needs to be accounted for and assigned a beneficiary. If, as the recent article notes, a person simply has one bank account, even if the balance is a high number, an estate plan can more easily account for how that asset will be distributed.
Your estate plan is unique
In the end, every Maryland resident who starts the estate planning process will need to feel comfortable with the setup they choose, no matter what that setup might be. You have unique family and financial dynamics that need to be understood and addressed in an estate plan. Getting the right information about the estate planning process for your own circumstances can be the first step in the correct direction.