The 3 Biggest Myths About Estate Planning

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What are the three biggest myths about estate planning?

In the time that I've been practicing law, I have found three main myths to estate planning. First, that all you need is a will, and if you've done a will, you're good. In fact, a will does not protect you during your life. A will only passes things after you've died, so if you are incapacitated or disabled in some way, a will doesn't do anything to protect you.

The second myth is that A will alone avoids probate. A lot of people think that a will is a magical document that once it's signed, automatically avoids the probate process. And that's just not true. A will actually gets taken to probate court to be given effect under law.

The third myth is that if you're incapacitated or disabled and you're married, that your spouse can automatically act on your behalf. Actually, that's not true. Even though you're married, there is no automatic presumption that your spouse has your best interests at heart and should act on your behalf. Instead, a court would need to decide who should be making legal, financial and medical decisions for you, that process is called guardianship.

If you are needing legal, financial or medical decisions, then your spouse would like anyone else need to go to probate court to be appointed guardian over you. Unfortunately, you can't just rely on the fact that you're married to avoid completing an estate plan. Check out our other FAQs to learn why a will alone is not enough.