When you look at the statistics on the subject you find that most people who are under the age of 50 do not have an estate plan in place. And beyond that, the fact is that a significant percentage of people who are over the age of 50 have not comprehensively planned for the future either.
While there may be a few who have never given the subject any consideration at all, most people know that they should execute the appropriate estate planning documents. These individuals procrastinate for one reason or another, and they can find plenty of excuses.
One of them would be that they decide that they won’t be dying any time soon so they will have plenty of time to address the matter later. This is rather risky and perhaps a bit arrogant because you never know what fate has in store for you.
Another reason why people procrastinate is because they feel as though things are changing in their lives and throughout society as a whole and they decide to wait until everything becomes clear. This is something that is very common right now because of the fact that the tax laws are in flux.
The extension of the Bush era tax cuts that was passed in 2010 is going to expire at the end of this year. Unless some new tax relief package is passed we will indeed be looking at a very different playing field in 2013.
But at the same time it is very possible that the current tax parameters could be extended near the end of the year as they were in 2010. Or, an entirely new tax measure could be passed.
In spite of these uncertainties doing nothing is not a solution. The wise course of action is to sit down and put an initial estate plan in place with the assistance of a licensed Indianapolis estate planning lawyer. He or she will gain an understanding of your situation and contact you when and if an adjustment to your existing estate plan becomes appropriate in light of any changes to the tax code that may be implemented.
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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