Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago, I talked about the importance of a will when having children. Depending on the state you live in, you might want to consider a living trust. In certain states, probate can be very cumbersome and a Living Trust will avoid that. Talk to a professional to see if you should get one, but it certain states like California and Texas it is an absolute must, where as in Colorado, probate is fairly straight forward. Probate is a government mandated procedure that an estate has to go through no matter its size. Certain assets such as retirement accounts are excluded.

In addition, you should make sure that you have medical directives and a power of attorney as a part of your estate documents.

I would be careful buying these off the shelf documents that you can get online or office supplies stores, as the laws are different in each state. In case your documents is challenged in court, and the wording is not quite what is required by the state, the documents could be thrown out of court. That certainly would defy the whole purpose of the document.

Cheers,

Patrick