If you don’t pay for an estate plan now, then your estate pays later.
People often think they will save money by not having an estate plan but there will be a bill to the estate and it will be paid because estate planning is never free as the Green Bay Press-Gazette points out in “Estate planning: Pay now or pay later.”
The truth is that it is far more expensive not to have an estate plan than to have one. If your estate has to hire an attorney to sort out your affairs after you pass away and go to court to get a judge’s approval for everything, then that is going to cost a lot more than going to an attorney and getting an estate plan.
Not having an estate plan can cost your estate in other ways as well. For example, you may have to pay a higher estate tax bill and miss out on the best, cheapest ways to transfer wealth from one generation to another.
An estate plan for most people is much easier and cheaper than one would think. There is no reason not to go ahead and get one, especially since not doing so will just cost your family more money later.
You can pay it now or they can pay it later
Reference: Green Bay Press-Gazette (Aug. 1, 2016) “Estate planning: Pay now or pay later.”