By Gerald Townsend, Financial Editor

In the past two years we’ve had a series of year-long “101” articles on investment management and tax planning. You can find these previous articles on the Boom! website, boomnc.com. This year we start a new series, “Estate Planning 101.”

What is  “estate planning?” The word “estate” may conjure up images of a country home and rolling hills, but in the legal context, it refers to the assets and debts of a person—in this case a deceased person.

However, with estate planning, we don’t want decisions to be made after someone dies, but before. What kind of decisions are we talking about?

How do I financially protect my spouse after my death?

How do I make sure my assets go the people I want to receive them?

Who will raise my young children if my spouse and I should die?

My children or grandchildren are too young to handle an inheritance. How can I protect their money?

Who will make financial or health-care decisions for me if I am physically or mentally unable to make them myself?

How can I protect the assets I leave to my family from future creditors, bankruptcies, divorces, or heirs that often make poor financial decisions?

What about taxes? I want to minimize the bite of taxes on my estate.

During this year we will be examining questions like these—and more. You’ll gain a good understanding of the basic principles of estate planning and the key questions and concepts. However, keep in mind that estate planning is not a “do-it-yourself” project. The purpose of this series of articles is to help you think through the questions and important issues and better prepare you for your discussions with your legal and financial advisors.

A recent survey noted that two-thirds of Americans do not have a will and about half have no estate documents of any kind.

Why are we so lackadaisical about something so important?

Well, contemplating one’s demise is not the most pleasant of things, and no one really wants to imagine a future that doesn’t include them. So, we just kick the can down the road; besides, we’re just too busy right now to deal with it. But the distant future comes quicker than we think, and quite often arrives unexpectedly.

I once heard that whenever you find yourself feeling that what you do is so important that the world just couldn’t possibly go on without you, it is time to take a long walk through a cemetery, musing on the fact that everyone buried there once thought the same thing.

So, in your list of New Year’s resolutions, include “completing my estate planning.” Your long hours of working and diligent savings are for a purpose—your family.

Gerald A. Townsend, CPA/PFS/ABV, CFP^®, CFA^®, CMT is president of Townsend Asset Management Corp., a registered investment advisory firm. Email: Gerald@AssetMgr.com

Click here for a complete listing of past Live Smart (financial) articles.