LEGALLY SPEAKING
Estate Planning
by Amanda Roggenbuck

Every year as tax time rolls around people start to think about their finances. Without a doubt my office gets an increase in estate planning calls. It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who have not planned for the future, but are appalled that they have to do any work to do so.

A good estate planner will require you to provide any current documents that you have; they will also solicit a lot of information from you, information about your family, your health, future plans and finances. To have an effective estate plan it is necessary for you to be willing and able to provide this information to your attorney. It is necessary that you think of your estate plan as an investment in your future. At our office we spend a lot of time educating our clients it is just as important that they understand all the aspects of their estate plan as simply completing their plan.

Many times people call and want to complete their estate plan that day; it is not a good idea to wait until the last minute before a vacation, or illness, to try prepare your estate plan. Inevitably either you will run out of time, or miss some important information. The best plan is to commit the time and effort to completing a plan that matches your needs.

Our office gets a lot of requests to present information about estate planning to groups; we are happy to do so. Sometimes people hire us after the fact to draft their estate plan - sometimes they don't. However, in my opinion, it is more important to understand your options and choices than to make sure you hire us to draft your estate plan. If your group would like an estate plan presentation, feel free to contact us to make arrangements.

As always we welcome your questions and comments; keep them coming. If you have any questions please feel free to email them to us at aroggenbuck@roggenbuckandassociates.com. While you are e-mailing us stop by our Web site at www.roggenbuckandassociates.com.

Amanda Roggenbuck can be reached at her Cass City office at 989-872-8881, with office hours Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Amanda would be happy to answer your questions in this column, and will address them as space allows. Please send your questions to editor@lakeshoreguardian.com or by mail to The Lakeshore Guardian, 9697 Purdy Road, Harbor Beach, MI 48441.