Have you been considering creating an Estate Plan but wondering what the benefits are? Here are ten things Estate Planning will do for you:

1. Provide for your immediate family – By making sure that you have selected a competent institution to handle your Estate Plan, you can pass on your property to members of your family with very little hassles. It also enables you to take steps to protect your property from creditors.
2. Provide for other relatives who need help and guidance – Your Estate Plan will ensure that your family members whose lives depended on you while you were alive are adequately taken care of upon your death.
3. Give your properties to beneficiaries quickly – Through your Estate Plan, you can simplify or avoid probate and ensure that your beneficiaries receive the assets you have left for them timely.
4. Ease the strain on your family – You can ease the pain of your surviving family members by arranging for your funeral through your Estate Plan. You can also limit the expenses of your funeral in addition to designating the place that you want to be buried by ensuring that adequate arrangement is made.
5. Minimise expenses – A good Estate Plan keeps the cost of transferring assets to beneficiaries as low as possible. Choosing a competent Trustee to administer the Estate Plan and giving them the necessary authority will save money, reduce the burden for survivors and simplify the administration of the Estate.
6. Plan for incapacity – With a good Estate Plan in place, you can decide in advance about life support and appoint someone to make decisions for you about medical treatment. Should you become disabled or unable to generate income, your Estate Plan can protect you and your family.
7. Help a favourite cause – Your Estate Plan can also help support religious, educational, and other charitable causes either during your lifetime or upon your death, and at the same time take advantage of tax laws designed to encourage private philanthropy.
8. Ensure smooth running of your business – If you have a small business, you can provide for an orderly succession and continuation of its affairs by spelling out what should happen to your interest in the business.
9. Make your retirement years easier – Even though Estate Planning primarily benefits those you love and care about, you can also coordinate your Estate Plan with retirement, health care and other benefits to help you achieve a comfortable life after retirement while still providing for your loved ones.
10. Reduce taxes on your estate – Every Naira your estate has to pay in estate or inheritance taxes is a naira that your beneficiaries will not get. A good Estate Plan can give the maximum allowed by law to your beneficiaries and the minimum to the government.