Estate Planning Basics

Estate planning is nothing more than developing a process to identify and transfer your property, whether during your lifetime or at your death. Anything that you care about—from an old rocking chair that belonged to your grandmother to a cabin where your family spends its vacations—is important enough to justify estate planning. If you have a minor child, you have estate planning concerns. Who will raise your child if you are unable to do so? Who will manage any assets your child might inherit? If you do not have an estate plan, some states (including Texas) will determine what happens to your estate, and it might not be what you would want. Consider the following estate planning tools.