Estate planning is not all about the wealthy. Even if you do not have a pricey house, a huge Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, or precious art to move away, settling your affairs after you die might have a long-lasting and costly effect on your loved ones. Are you still not sure that an estate plan is necessary?

Consider the following four reasons that you should get one to escape potentially disastrous consequences for your descendants.

An Estate Plan Protects Beneficiaries

If estate planning in Singapore was to be what the wealthy wanted, something changed. When a family’s breadwinner dies, many middle-class households must devise a solution or breadwinners.

After all, you do not have to be a billionaire to succeed in the stock market or real estate, both of which yield money that you will choose to leave to your heirs.

An Estate Plan Protects Young Children

Nobody wants to hear about dying soon, but you must brace for the unimaginable if you have little ones. This is where the will component of an estate plan comes into play.

If both the parents die before the children reach the age of 21, you can appoint guardians to ensure that the children are cared for in a way that you can support them. In the absence of a will naming the guardians, the courts will determine who will parent your children.

Protect Assets

Many individuals, including those who already have an estate plan, are working with their estate planning solicitor to discuss asset security planning. It is too late to put a scheme in motion to secure your interests if you realize or believe that a case is on the way.

Instead, you should begin with a solid financial plan and pair it with a robust estate plan, which will protect your assets for the benefit of both you during your lifetime and your heirs after your death.

Estate Planning Avoids Significant Taxes.

Many foreigners come to Singapore to have an estate plan because they want to reduce their estate tax or inheritance tax in their home country. Married couples can limit or even abolish estate taxes with the most detailed planning by including AB Trusts or ABC Trusts in their wills or revocable living trusts.

Furthermore, both married couples and families may use several sophisticated wealth planning strategies to reduce or eliminate the estate or inheritance tax bill.

Estate Planning Goes Beyond A Will.

Often people confuse having a will and having an estate plan. They are not. Following your death, the wills planning offers a guideline on how your assets and the properties are managed. In contrast, estate planning is far more comprehensive. 

The Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows you to nominate others to make medical and financial decisions on your behalf if you cannot do so yourself. Health orders specify the types of medical care you prefer if you become incapacitated.

You will need estate planning services in Singapore if you want your savings and loved ones to be covered until you are no longer around to do so. In the absence of one, your beneficiaries will incur substantial tax obligations, and the courts will determine the distribution of your properties and assets —even who gets to raise your children.