What are the advantages of estate planning?
Estate planning is the orderly process by which you can plan how and when to leave your assets after death to your choice of beneficiaries. Every state has a “default” estate plan in the form of intestacy laws which specify who will inherit your assets at death if you die without having a Will and/or a Trust. For example, most states provide that if someone dies without a Will and is married, then the widow or widower will inherit all of the decedent’s assets. If someone dies without a Will and does not leave a widow or widower, then all assets are given to the decedent’s children in equal shares. If someone dies without a Will and does not leave a widow or widower, or any living children or other descendants such as grandchildren, then more remote relatives will inherit the estate (for example, living parents if any, and otherwise siblings, etc.). An unusual twist on the intestacy law is that in Virginia, if someone dies without a Will and leaves a spouse plus children by a relationsh
