Why Estate Planning is important?

Singaporeans are assets rich and most of them are not cash rich.  Even a simple HDB flat can costs hundreds of thousands dollars.  If you add the CPF and insurance monies, the total can be very substantial.

So if one dies without any estate planning, his assets will be distributed according to the Intestate  Succession Act, which spelt out the persons who will be entitled for a share of his assets. 

From a glance, the distribution table seems to be fair.  However, it may not be so.  Example if a couple without any children both die in a plane crash.  Both have surviving parents.  In such scenario, the court will rule that the man, being older, deems to die first.  50% of the man's estate will go to the wife's estate and the 50% goes to his parent.  100% of the wife's estate plus the 50% of her husband's will go to her parent.  Is this fair?

A Sad Story....

What benefits and advantages do I have in Estate Planning?

Estate Planning involves the usage of Will and Trust.  With a proper Estate Planning, the following benefits can be derived:

1.  The estate assets can be protected due to:
        1.1.    Shortening of the time to apply for probate.  Thus reduce legal and admin costs.
        1.2.    Less chance of the distrubtion is being challenged in court.  Such cases can be time    
                  consuming and costly.

2.   The assets will be distributed according to the deceased's wishes.

3.   Proper provisions can be made for minor children -- e.g appointing a guardian and trustee.
 
4.   One is ensured of getting the right people to act as executor to distribute his assets.  Without a
       Will, the family members will need to apply to court for a letter of adminisration.  Appointing an 
       administrator can be very problemetic as many will fight for the rights to be admininistrator.    
       On  top of it, the court will ask the administrator for 2 sureties for the same value of 
       the estate before he or she is appointed.

Ultimately, one will have the peace of mind that he or she has made adequate provisions for his or her loved ones.

How to do an estate planning?

You can simply walk in to any lawyer's firm and ask them to do a Will for you based on your wishes.  And if you ask them to do a proper estate plan for you, they will charge you handsomely for it;

OR you can save money by following our process:

1.  Attend our FREE Estate Planning Seminar

2.  Let our financial planner who is trained in Estate Planning, to do a detailed Estate Planning 
     Analysis.  This service is FREE.  If the analysis shows a shortfall, and you want to buy a financial
      product to cover this shortfall, we only ask that you place the business with us. 

3.   After the analysis, you can go to one of our lawyer's office or a Wills & Trust Testament company  
      to write up a Will based on the findings we have discovered.  Depending on your needs for a  
      Will writing, trust setup and / or utilising offshore companies in tax haven to hold your assets, we   
      will advise you accordingly which  is the best way for you.

All Rights Reserved (c) 2013 Lawrence Tham