Planning your estate is a critical exercise to undertake in Maryland. There are many details that you need to remember as you draw up your plan. You should also keep in mind how easy it is to commit a few key errors. You may not notice them at the time but they can cause issues for your heirs. Here are a few to avoid.
Never forget to designate an official heir
One of the biggest mistakes that all too many people make while estate planning is forgetting to name an official heir. This may be because they can’t think of anyone to name at the time. It may also be because they just didn’t have the needed paperwork in front of them. But this is an error that can lead to very unpleasant results.
If you don’t name an official beneficiary for your plan, rest assured that the choice will be made for you. This will usually fall to the company that backs your plan. If you have life insurance, the assets will be paid to your probate estate. This means your heirs will have to sue to get the money from the estate.
Always keep your list of beneficiaries updated
Another common error that people make after planning their estate is forgetting to update it from time to time. If you made your estate plan a decade ago, a number of things may have changed. You may have had more grandchildren or lost some of the people you had listed.
If you have been divorced and remarried, now is the time to update your estate plan. You want to make sure that the bulk of your estate goes to your current wife. If you don’t update the plan, your former spouse gets it all.
