4 Tips for Creating a Stress-Free Estate Plan

If you or someone you know have lost a loved one, you have probably heard or even experienced the horror stories of feuding families and missing estate plans.  Minimizing stress and maximizing clarity should be of the highest priority when you are creating your estate plan.  Brian Vnak of MartketWatch recently put together four tips to reduce stress for your surviving loved ones and for those who will handle your estate after you pass away.

1. Consider what your beneficiaries want when dividing up your assets.

2. Explain your intentions to your family now to avoid fighting and hurt feelings after you pass away.

3. Gift assets during your lifetime to decrease the size of your estate and to "test" beneficiaries' capacity to handle assets.

4. Consider your beneficiaries' tax brackets when deciding how to distribute your assets.

By putting these four simple tools to use as you create your estate plan, you can assure peace of mind for you and your family.