ALL HOMEOWNERS SHOULD HAVE AN ESTATE PLAN
To put it simply, if you own a home, no matter how old you are, there are many benefits to having an estate plan in place. Sometimes, people may feel like they have not yet built up enough assets for an estate plan to be worthwhile. Others may just be too busy building a family and establishing a career. Some may not even fully understand what an estate plan is. But it doesn’t matter if you purchased your first home in your 20s, if you’re 35 and raising a family of five, or if you happen to be in your 60s and are waiting for retirement. Estate planning is crucial — and beneficial if you start early. Protect your kids. While your hope is to be around long enough to see your child get married and have children of their own someday, there are unfortunate situations where both parents pass away before a child is 18 years old. If you or your spouse don’t have wills in place, the court will appoint a legal guardian to make all decisions for your child. Safeguard your assets. Creditors, ex-spouses, litigations, and other court judgments can potentially be a threat to your assets, but if you have an estate plan in
place, you can protect them and make sure that they are still around to give to your children and beneficiaries when you pass away
Reduce taxes. Having a well-thought-out estate plan can lower the estate taxes of your beneficiaries as well as their federal and state inheritance taxes. An estate planning attorney can help to paint a clearer picture of estate taxation. Eliminates unwanted beneficiaries. As stated earlier, if you pass away intestate (without a will), all of your belongings, whether they are a family heirloom or not, may not be passed down the way you would like them to. Courts do not know your family, so while they may do their best to distribute your assets, the only way to make sure that one child gets your car, the other child gets the china cabinet, and they split the house is to have an estate plan, even at a young age.
SUDOKU
MICHELE’S RECIPE CORNER
PECAN CREAM PIE
This creamy pecan pie tastes like a dream and is simple enough for even a novice baker.
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans, divided
• 1 9-inch uncooked pie crust • 1 cup heavy whipping cream • 1/4 cup powdered sugar • 2 8-oz bars of cream cheese, softened
DIRECTIONS
1. Cook pie crust according to package instructions. 2. In a small bowl, combine heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar. Beat for several minutes with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. 3. In a separate larger bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Beat together until combined and creamy. 4. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and stir together until combined. Stir in 1 cup of chopped pecans. 5. With a spatula, spread mixture into the baked and cooled pie crust. Sprinkle the remaining pecans on top of the pie. 6. Cover and refrigerate overnight before serving.
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