What are the Benefits to Having an Estate Plan?

Having an estate plan insures your assets will be transferred to your preferred recipients at your death. It is also important to consider who should receive those assets if your preferred recipients are not living at your death as a result of illness, injury, or mutual catastrophe such as a car accident. Your Trust and Will should provide for a contingent remainder beneficiary or beneficiaries to receive your assets in such an unlikely occurrence. You can provide in your estate plan that if your preferred beneficiaries are not alive at your death, that your assets then go to friends, relatives and/or charities that are special to you. While it is unlikely that your assets will be transferred to a contingent beneficiary it is simple to include this in your Trust and Will to keep your assets from going to your unknown heirs by Oregon law.