How do debts figure into my estate planning?

How do debts figure into my estate planning?

Debts are a very important component of any estate plan because debts represent the down side of what you're trying to give away. They also represent the obligation that your estate must discharge before whatever is left gets distributed out to your beneficiaries. Even more importantly in certain instances is the issue of a mortgage on your personal home, that you perhaps want to leave to a particular person, but that person would be unable to pay the mortgage on the home, and therefore you or that person will have one of two options. Either pay the mortgage off as part of your estate plan, or direct that the property be sold and the net proceeds go to the beneficiary.