The holiday season is about togetherness and looking ahead to the future. It’s the perfect time to consider what legacy you want to leave behind for your Oklahoma City family. What inheritance wishes do you have for the next generation? Are there certain assets you want to entrust to friends or community organizations?  

Documenting these intentions in an estate plan is crucial — especially over the holidays — for two key reasons:

1. Avoiding Family Confusion After You’re Gone

Without estate planning, Oklahoma courts follow default rules to distribute assets that often don’t match your wishes. This can lead to drawn-out disputes that fracture families. An Oklahoma City estate planning attorney can help you create a customized plan for your assets to avoid confusion and maintain family harmony after you pass.

2. Updating Your Plan as Family Dynamics Shift  
An estate plan isn’t set in stone. Through legal contract amendments called codicils, you can modify your will as life changes. Family rifts, new grandchildren, business growth — your attorney can help update your plan to keep it current. Meet with your Oklahoma City estate planning lawyer this holiday season to reflect on how your legacy intentions may have shifted over the past year based on new developments in your family, assets, or community ties.

Decoding Inheritance

You might think, “Do I even own enough to warrant a will?” Surprisingly, state-defined

thresholds for probate court can be quite minimal, and even smaller estates often need

probating.

Without a will, the legal system distributes your assets based on the state's default rules. This usually means your spouse secures half, with your children sharing the balance. Personalized directives? They won’t matter. Modern family structures often involve multiple spouses and children from varied unions.

The courts then need to innovate. Although ex-partners might not have a claim, your extended family including children, grandchildren, siblings, and even cousins might. If you’re keen on specific allocations or want to sidestep direct inheritors, a will is your playbook.

Revisiting & Refining Your Wishes

Family get-togethers aren’t always smooth sailing. A comment here, a debate there, and sometimes decisions made in the heat of the moment might need rethinking. Worried about penning down something in your will that might need tweaking later?

Wills are fluid documents. Through legal amendments called codicils, you can modify sections or the entirety of your initial will.

Evolving family dynamics, business growth, or asset accumulation? Adjust your will accordingly. Don’t be paralyzed by the “what ifs” Crafting a clear will can shield your loved ones from unnecessary disputes, offering more peace than any holiday truce. Speak to an estate planning expert and set your legacy intentions in stone.

Here are Lai & Turner’s ten reasons estate planning matters over the holidays:  

1. Specifying How Assets Should Be Handled After You’re Gone in Oklahoma City

2. Avoiding Unnecessary Disputes That Can Fracture Families

3. Accounting for Blended and Modern Family Structures in Your Plan

4. Outlining Guardianship Wishes for Minor Children or Dependents

5. Providing Special Gifts or Mementos to Loved Ones

6. Updating Your Plan as Relationships and Assets Change Over the Years 

7. Creating Trusts to Manage Assets Tax-Efficiently

8. Supporting Favorite Oklahoma City Charities Through Estate Gifts   

9. Appointing a Reliable Executor to Handle Your Affairs

10. Protecting Your Life’s Work and Wealth for Future Generations

This holiday season, gift your Oklahoma City family peace of mind by reviewing your estate plan. Click here to schedule a free consultation with Lai & Turner Law Firm PLLC and get started preserving your legacy today.

Estate Planning