At the most basic level, estate planning is this: What happens to your STUFF when you die and who takes care of your SELF when you become incapacitated.

Throughout your life you have collected various STUFF. All of that STUFF, these assets and possessions, make up your estate. Your estate includes: your home, car, real estate, retirement accounts, investments, life insurance, furniture, artwork, and other personal possessions. Your Instagram account with 13,455 followers? That too.

You probably want to have a say in what happens to those things after you die. You want to decide who will receive all these assets, what exactly they should receive, and when they should receive it. Documenting these wishes and organizing them into a formal plan is estate planning. It will give you peace of mind knowing that your family will be taken care of, no matter what happens in the future, even the unexpected.

You probably also want to have a say in what happens to your SELF if you become incapacitated. Legal adults, no matter how young, need a Durable Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive.

What if an accident or illness -- or simply the effects of aging -- left you unable to tell your doctors what kind of medical treatment you want, or made it impossible for you to manage your financial affairs? No one likes to consider these scenarios, but the truth is that almost every family will eventually face this kind of difficulty. While medical and financial powers of attorney can't prevent accidents or keep you young, they can certainly make life easier for you and your family under these conditions.

With a valid power of attorney, the trusted person you name will be legally permitted to take care of important matters for you -- for example, paying your bills, managing your investments, or directing your medical care -- if you are unable to do so yourself.

Taking the time to make these documents is well worth the small effort it will take. If you haven't made durable powers of attorney and something happens to you, your loved ones may have to go to court to get the authority to handle your affairs.

Absolutely. The goal of an estate plan is to provide security for you and your family. When you think of it that way, wealth has nothing to do with it at all.

An estate plan isn’t for you, but for those you love and leave behind. When you die, someone has to settle your estate. Even for a small checking account and a car, someone has to distribute the account and change car’s title. Without an estate plan , someone will have to go to probate court, prove a relationship to the deceased and be assigned by a judge to serve as executor.

You will also want to plan for your health. No one wants to spend time thinking about what would happen if you became unable to direct your own medical care because of an illness, an accident, or advanced age. However, if you don't do at least a little bit of planning—writing down your wishes about the kinds of treatment you do or don't want to receive and naming someone you trust to oversee your care—then these important matters could wind up in the hands of estranged family members, doctors, or sometimes even judges, who may know very little about what you would prefer. While you are having a medical crisis, your loved ones will undoubtedly be undergoing their own emotional crisis in their concern for you. You can make it easier on them by having your healthcare wishes documented, giving your loved ones the comfort of knowing they are executing your plan exactly the way you want.

If you’re in your twenties or thirties, you’re likely wondering why you need an estate plan in the first place. You may not own a home yet and don’t have a lot of belongings or actual estate to worry about. However, estate planning covers much more than your belongings. It covers almost every financial aspect of your life.

Do you have children? Pets? Student loan debt? Do you want to assign someone you trust to make medical decisions for you if you cannot? Do you want someone to have the authority to write a check from your bank account in the event you are unable? Do you want someone to shut down your Facebook page when you pass? Then you need an estate plan.

You’re mentally and physically capable of making an estate plan NOW. No one knows what the future holds, so it’s possible that you’ll be unable to properly make an estate plan when you are older. Get ahead of the unexpected and unknown and formulate an estate plan while you’re in good health, both mentally and physically. You can always revisit the plan to update beneficiaries, power of attorney, etc.

This is where things gets heavy. And for good reason. What would happen to your children if you died tomorrow?

Say you have a parent or other relative who you would like to take care of your kids. Without an estate plan, that relative would need to obtain guardianship over your children through a court proceeding before they would have legal authority to manage their care and provide for their well-being. What your assets? Your property would need to be distributed through probate court. If your children are minors, they will not be able to access those assets until they reach age 18. In the meantime a guardian would manage that property for your children. Taking care of your children and taking care of your stuff all requires time, money, and court proceedings. There are also many ways things could go wrong. Are there any relatives you do NOT want to take care of your kids? Is there anyone you do NOT want to oversee your assets? Do you want to leave certain funds for your child’s education? Do you want to ensure your child is able to stay in the same city or school district after your death? Are there any other special instructions you want to leave behind? Without an estate plan, all these questions are left up to chance.

Considering your own death can be a very heavy thought, especially once a child has come into your life. However, it’s just another one of the many hard parenting things you’ve already done and will continue to do to ensure that your child is provided for and taken care of, no matter what happens. And I’d still argue that creating an estate plan is a lot easier than 3 AM feedings or waiting up for your teen driver to arrive home at night.

Your priorities for estate planning will likely be different if you do not have children. You may be more concerned with prioritizing the best possible care and comfort for you and your spouse (if married), and less concerned with ensuring an inheritance. You might also prioritize planning for the future of any pets who may outlive you, charitable objectives, and/or financially helping nieces and nephews or other relatives. You will also want to make managing your estate easier once you have passed for any loved one who may be responsible for distributing your estate.

I’m a CPA and I appreciate a cost-benefit analysis as much as the next guy.  So, let’s take a look.

Let’s talk cold hard numbers first. Passing without a valid will can easily cost from 3% - 7% or more of the estate value. So, let’s say your estate value is approximately $500,000. Dying without a will, or intestate, will result in approximately $15,000 in probate fees, on the low end. These fees go to court fees, lawyer fees, accountant fees, executor fees, bond fees, and a variety of other fees that result from distributing your property. Creating an estate plan for a $500,000 estate will certainly cost less than $15,000 in probate fees.  

But I know what you’re thinking.  A $15,000 probate fee doesn’t feel real today.  After all, these fees don’t occur until AFTER you’ve passed away.  Fees paid AFTER death MUST be less painful than fees paid when you’re alive, right? 

Let’s take a look at some of the intangibles when it comes to estate planning. 

If I die without a will, what does that mean for my loved ones left behind?

First, your assets will be frozen until the court system combs through every detail of your estate. On average, probate in Illinois takes no less than twelve months. Your loved ones immediate concerns are likely who pays for the funeral, pays for copies of the death certificate, pays for the lawyer to take the case through probate? Your loved ones will likely have to pay these expenses personally. They will eventually be able to be reimbursed by your estate, but it will take time.

If you pass without a will, the courts will assign one of your loved ones as personal representative. The representative is responsible for collecting and preserving the assets of the estate, paying the debts and taxes and distributing the remaining assets as directed by Illinois law. As simple as this sounds, the task may be daunting regardless of the size of the estate. This process can be a time-consuming and exhausting for the surviving family members. At a time when your loved ones will already be grieving, they will also have to deal with this administrative burden.

Most importantly, what happens to your children?

Children’s rights are put into the hands of the court if you pass away before creating a will or naming your offspring as beneficiaries. This is why it is especially important for parents to prioritize their estate planning. 

State judges will do their best to ensure a child’s guardianship is in his or her best interest, but the fact remains: courts don’t know the child or the family dynamics, which makes it incredibly difficult for them to determine “what is best”. In most cases, a family member will volunteer to raise the children of their deceased relative. However, it’s impossible to guarantee that the child (or children) will end up in the household of their parent’s choosing without a proper will. 

When it comes to determining whether something is expensive, consider the cost against what you value.  I firmly believe you should never spend money on something you don’t feel good about.  But when it comes to my loved ones left behind, I can’t put a price on the gift of making their lives a little bit easier after I’m gone.

I love the show “Nailed It!” It’s the hit Netflix original competition series about amateur bakers who attempt to recreate impressive desserts.

Whichever amateur baker comes closest to a successful dessert by the end of the episode takes home the $10,000 prize. But, what makes the show hilarious is the amateur’s re-creation of desserts that fail, in epic fashion. Got me thinking – maybe I pitch Netflix a show on failed DIY estate plans? But then I realized that would be the saddest and darkest reality show to ever come across a streaming service. 

 Here’s why: 

 The documents in your estate plan should protect you and your family. Using forms or a do-it-yourself service for wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other estate plan documents creates a number of substantial risks. A DIY approach may leave you and your loved ones completely unprotected. Here are the three most significant dangers.

 1. Your DIY will and estate plan may not accomplish your wishes and goals.

One of the worst possible outcomes of using do-it-yourself forms and services is that your estate plan does not accomplish what you think it does. Yet that can easily happen. Estate planning is a legal process that involves a number of different documents. There are many opportunities for choosing the wrong form or structure — or failing to include necessary documents — if you’re not an estate planning attorney.

 Estate planning requires creating complex legal documents, each with a specific purpose. Your attorney discusses your personal, family, financial, and business circumstances with you in detail before determining the best way to accomplish your wishes and address your needs. Then, your lawyer creates the appropriate legal documents specifically to accomplish those goals. Every estate plan that an attorney creates is completely unique, because it is tailored to the specific circumstances of the individual client.

If you consider using a DIY service, read the disclaimers on the site. (You may have difficulty finding them, because they are often well-hidden.) The disclaimers will tell you that the site is not a lawyer or law firm, nor is it a substitute for consulting with a lawyer.

Online service disclaimers also clearly state that they are not giving you any legal advice or guidance on legal rights or form selection. The terms of use explain that your communications with the site are not protected by attorney-client privilege (your discussions with a licensed attorney are protected by privilege). You acknowledge and accept all the terms simply by using the site.

 2. Your will and other documents might not be legally valid in Illinois — or they may have unintended consequences under Illinois laws.

If you make a mistake when using a DIY form or use an inappropriate form, your documents may not be legally valid in Illinois. The problem most likely won’t be discovered until it’s too late to fix.

Illinois laws impose strict legal requirements on each estate plan document, including your Last Will and Testament, trust, durable powers of attorney for health care and finances, and your advance directive (living will). It’s easy to make errors in legal forms. If you make a mistake when using a DIY form or use an inappropriate form, your documents may not be legally valid in Illinois. The problem most likely won’t be discovered until it’s too late to fix. The consequences could be disastrous.

 Even if all or parts of your DIY documents are legally valid, they may have unintended consequences under Illinois estate laws. In addition, if some of your DIY documents are partly or completely invalid, state law may determine who gets your property when you pass away. Your intended beneficiaries may not get what you wish — and may even get nothing at all. The individuals who make your health care and financial decisions if you become incapacitated may be determined by a judge — and might not be the individuals of your choosing.

If you own a business, succession planning is a critical part of your estate planning. Ensuring that your business is viable in the event of your incapacity or death involves complex considerations. If you attempt to create your own business succession plan or do not include one in your estate plan, it could mean that your family loses control of the business, or your business may not continue at all if you become incapacitated or pass away.

 3. Your DIY documents or estate plan may create family disagreements, cause legal problems, and necessitate court involvement.

Family conflicts over estates and caring for incapacitated family members are not uncommon. They can tear a family apart and permanently ruin relationships built over a lifetime. Using a DIY approach to estate planning can result unnecessarily in family disputes, legal issues, and court actions between family members.

 Careful estate planning — and sound advice from an experienced lawyer — actually helps to avoid family disagreements.

You might save a little bit of money using a form or service for your will or estate plan. That small amount cannot make up for the potential serious long-term consequences and costs. The damage that a do-it-yourself approach can cause is often unalterable and catastrophic for your family. 

Ultimately,  forms and DIY estate planning services are not worth the inherent risks. Maybe I pitch my idea to Netflix as a cautionary tale style docuseries? Eh - better leave the film making to the pros.