By Heather McGinley
©2018 Inside Business – The Hampton Roads Business Journal
Mar 2, 2018
Developing an estate plan may seem intimidating, but it is the best way to protect yourself and your assets while you are living and your loved ones when you die, explained attorney William Oast III of Oast & Taylor Trusted Elder Law Professionals in Portsmouth.
“The worst thing you can do is to do nothing,” Oast said.
If you die or become incapacitated without an estate plan, “The Commonwealth of Virginia has a plan for you. You may not like it, but they have a plan in place,” Oast said.
Without the right legal documents, there is no guarantee you will have the people you want handling your business or inheriting your estate, Oast explained.
When someone dies, family members often do not know how the deceased wanted to distribute his assets and what he wanted in terms of funeral arrangements, Oast said. When it comes to entrusting family members to divide an estate equally, there is often someone with more financial need or someone who feels he deserves more of the estate.
