You probably have a house, a car, or other possessions like family heirlooms or artifacts. You or your ancestors probably have poured your blood, sweat, and tears, and worked hard to earn the money to purchase some of these, or to own the property you live on. That’s why you should learn about estate law.
What is estate law?
Estate law is the body of law that concerns and protects your physical and personal property. This involves planning for yourself financially, both during your period of life as well as for after your death. This helps to ensure that your key possessions are protected for you and your family for any rainy day in the future.
What does estate law cover?
Estate law broadly covers the following areas:
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Property
As a homeowner, you will want to control and manage your property. You should keep up with the various legal rules that surround owning a house, and make sure that all your documentation is completed and is kept in order. All documentation should be completed under the name of the owner to ensure that it is protected. This is important should anyone try to dispute your property and claim it for themselves.
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Possessions
Estate law also deals with legally managing any and all of your possessions. You pay taxes and fees on most big-ticket possessions you might own, such as a car for example. Estate law looks at how much you can legally be charged, and how much you need to pay. Each type of possession comes with a different set of rules and responsibilities which estate law oversees.
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Bankruptcy and Other Financial Obligations
Estate law helps you figure out how to deal with declaring bankruptcy and other similar financial problems. Through estate law, a person can figure out how to claim their insurances. This will help someone going through bankruptcy to recover from their dire state of affairs. Insurance claims can also be made if your property has been lost due to other reasons like accidents such as fires, car crashes, etc.
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Stolen Property
If someone has broken into your house and stolen some property that belonged to you, then estate law can help you in this case as well. It gives you the legal right as an individual to claim back any property that has been taken from you forcefully without your consent or permission.
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Planning for the Future
Another very important thing that estate law does is to ensure that your property is taken care of upon your death. This means that it makes sure that your property goes to the person who you intend for it to go. Estate law handles the drafting of your will, and all legal responsibilities that this entails.
It is important to know the estate laws of your state and country. An estate lawyer can help you in this regard, by guiding you on how to handle the various aspects of your estate, to safeguard it for the present and the future.