Business and Estate Checkups: Vital to Your Overall Well-Being

As individuals, we recognize the importance of maintaining good health through regular physical checkups. Similarly, successful individuals and business owners recognize the importance of regular checkups of their business plans and operations as well as their personal affairs and estates, thereby ensuring they remain strong and healthy with each passing year.

Though most people do not typically consider legal work as part of their individual health and wellness, the regular review of your business plan and operations along with the update and implementation of a comprehensive estate plan are an essential component to your overall well-being. Recent surveys indicate that nearly 60 percent of Americans do not have an estate plan. Reasons vary, but respondents have indicated the following reasons for this statistic: they are invincible, death is far from their doorstep, or they have too few assets to warrant the creation of an estate plan. Similar beliefs are found in business, where owners fear they lack time, resources, or ability to implement changes prompted by new opportunities, technology, or regulations.

The truth is, such planning and reviews benefit everyone, no matter your age. It is never too early to start thinking about protecting your businesses, family, freedoms, and assets.

• Parents of minor children can designate someone to serve as their son or daughter’s legal guardian when forming a will.

• Protecting your loved ones by providing for their inheritance of your assets when you pass away is also part of a complete estate plan.

• Drafting a health care power of attorney provides you with the option to make medical decisions ahead of time about your care in the event you become incapacitated, allowing you to elect someone you know and trust to make choices for you in alignment with your wishes.

• A living trust helps avoid having your assets go through the costly and oftentimes protracted probate process.

• You can protect your access to government benefits such as Medicaid, which can be compromised if some of your assets are placed in certain types of trusts.

There are many benefits associated with drafting a will and setting up a trust, power of attorney, and other legal documents, no matter what stage of life you are in.

As for protecting your businesses, a competent professional can be essential in drafting and reviewing documents relating to your comprehensive business plan, operations, contracts, leases, financial agreements, and other matters relating to your business. Many business owners fail to recognize the importance of hiring an attorney when setting up a business, entering a new venture, or simply reviewing and updating your existing practices and documents. These actions will help in mitigating or avoiding future headaches and expenses as well as protecting and safeguarding your business from future disputes or unnecessary claims.

Rather than putting it off or waiting until problems arise, schedule your wellness check now with your professional to assure your business and personal affairs are reviewed and satisfactorily updated, thereby bringing you greater peace of mind and contributing to your overall health and wellness.

Article submitted by Curtis M Jensen (President) and Christa Hinton (Operations and Marketing Manager) of Snow Jensen & Reece, a regional law firm practicing in the areas of business law, estate and business planning, real estate, and commercial litigation. They can be reached by calling (435) 215-4960 or by visiting their website at www.snowjensen.com.