During the creation of your basic foundational estate plan, your estate planning attorney will be able to determine your need for planning beyond the basics. So what factors will your attorney consider when assessing your need for more advanced estate planning?

Advanced Estate Planning - Obvious Indicators

There will be some indicators that are obvious to both you and your estate planning attorney:

• You are single and your net worth exceeds $1,000,000

• You are married and your net worth exceeds $2,000,000
• You live in a state that has its own estate tax and your net worth exceeds the state exemption
• You desire to create an education fund for your children or grandchildren
• You will be inheriting, or have already inherited, a significant amount of assets.

Advanced Estate Planning - Not So Obvious Indicators

And there will also be some indicators that are not so obvious to you but that are obvious to your estate planning attorney:

• You want your primary residence or vacation home to stay in your family for generations to come
• You have retirement assets in an IRA or 401(k) in excess of $200,000
• You own a significant amount of life insurance
  
  
• You want to insure that your hard earned money stays in your family and is not snatched in a lawsuit or by a spouse who divorces a loved one
• You desire to leave some or all of your estate to charity
• Your ultimate goal is to create a long term legacy for your children, grandchildren and all future generations

Whether you implement any advanced estate planning or not, you should explore all of your options with your estate planning attorney and then make your decision based on what you believe will work for not only you but also for your loved ones.