There are many reasons that people in Texas decide to create an estate plan. For some, it is the desire to ensure that their heirs receive the assets that are left after the planner’s death. For others, it is to guarantee that their values are transferred to heirs and beneficiaries along with the monetary assets that are more commonly distributed. Such individuals may be interested to learn about a new trend called spiritual estate planning that is becoming more common in our state and across the nation.
In spiritual estate planning, one authority notes, the person creating an estate plan uses the available tools to pass their values along to their heirs and beneficiaries. They achieve this using available estate planning instruments such as trusts. In a trust, the trustee can be directed to distribute funds only after certain actions of an heir.
Other methods include leaving some potential heirs out of an estate plan or leaving assets to a charitable organization. Each allows for the values of an individual to be shared even after their death. In fact, the number of those planning an estate that includes gifts to a charity has increased substantially, according to at least one source.
Estate planning means different things for everyone in Texas who is considering how to leave assets to their heirs and beneficiaries. Making use of some or all of the available tools, each of us can ensure that our wishes are complied with in the division of our estates after our death. These wishes can be detailed in the estate planning documents created as a person works to plan for their eventual demise.
Source: Sun Sentinel, “‘Spiritual’ estate planning passes on values of departed,” Donna Gehrke-White, Nov. 11, 2012