Unfortunately, plenty of people have not carried out the process of putting together an estate plan, assuming that they don’t need one or following some misconceptions about what truly happens to their belongings if they fail to plan. 

It is a big misconception to think that the state takes over your assets if you pass away without an estate plan. If you fail to leave a plan, the state follows the intestate policy of distributing your property to your traceable relatives. The only time that a state truly acquires a decedent’s property is when no traceable blood relative could be identified. This means that you have no cousins, siblings or anyone else.

If you fail to engage in estate planning, a far more likely prospect for what will happen to your belongings is that you will leave behind a mess for your loved ones and one that could be easily avoided by scheduling a consultation with an experienced estate planning lawyer.

An estate planning lawyer can assist you with pulling all of the necessary information together in your key documents and ensuring that you have considered all aspects of the estate planning process.

While the state might not necessarily take your belongings, you probably want to have a say in how your belongings are distributed and the best way to do this is by connecting directly with an estate planning lawyer who can assist you with using tools like trusts, wills and other strategies to protect your assets for the rest of your life and your loved ones in the future.