Amy's Angle

10 Common Estate Planning Mistakes Your Family Can’t Afford to Make—Part 1 by Amy Clemmons Brown, Esq. Because estate planning involves actively thinking about and planning for frightening topics like death, old age, and crippling disability, many people put it off or simply ignore it all together until it’s too late. Sadly, this unwillingness to face reality often creates serious hardship, expense, and trauma for those loved ones you leave behind.  To complicate matters, t he recent proliferation of online estate planning document services, such as LegalZoom®, Rocket Lawyer®, and Trustandwill.com, may have misled you into thinking that estate planning is a do-it-yourself (DIY) affair, which involves nothing more than filling out the right legal forms. However, proper estate planning entails far more than filling out legal forms.  In fact, without a thorough understanding of how the legal process works upon your death or incapacity and applies specifically to your family dynam...