Estate Planning is one of the less desirable tasks one must do as they get older. As bad as it may sound, you might have already been doing some. If you’ve designated beneficiaries for retirement accounts you have already started the process. Estate planning is a process that involves multiple steps and takes an attorney to complete. There are multiple steps to this process and how to get involved in it.
Estate planning will require a qualified attorney to achieve. A local attorney would be the best option as you could meet with them on an ongoing basis if needed. It would help you to interview some local attorneys and ask them questions about their experience such as: How long have you practiced law? How many estates have you settled? Do you have experience in cases like mine? These are essential questions that if not answered may be a sign to move on to the next lawyer.
Make sure to enumerate your assets before visiting with an attorney. Gather information on any debts pending, and make sure your lawyer has access to these.
Another important step in this process is picking out those who you trust to carry out your wishes in the case of death or incapacity. There are a few actors that will need emphasis put on them and the role they carry out. An Executor is one of these. Their job is to make sure all of your assets are distributed as spelled out in your will. It can be a family member or a professional such as a bank trust officer. A financial power of attorney will manage your finances in the case where you cannot. This person needs to be detail oriented and it should be documented under which cases they can take control of your finances. A power of attorney for healthcare would be a person that likely lives in your area that has control over your healthcare decisions. A guardian would be needed if you had children that needed care after you died. They would need to be willing to have that responsibility and carry it out.
When meeting with your estate planning attorney they will provide more information on what is specifically needed, but there are some necessary documents you should ask your attorney to draft including: Your Last Will, Your living Will, Your medical power of attorney, and a financial power of attorney. These are going to be some of the more crucial documents in your estate plan.
After you receive a renewed version of these documents the old ones should be destroyed. Make sure to keep these new documents in a safe place and make sure there are some who know the whereabouts of them.
Figure out what plan best suits you. Would you rather have at home care or be cared for in a nursing home? In the case you leave a minor behind, what kind of values would you want placed on them? These are some of the softer questions of estate planning.
Plan to keep everything up to date. If a revision is needed make sure to contact an attorney if you are to experience any of the following
- Change in marital or family status
- Major change in assets
- Major change in finances
- Death or bad health of one of your beneficiaries
- Death or bad health of executor, power of attorney or guardian
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One of the many benefits of being an elder law attorney is getting to work with selfless clients who act not out of their own self interest, but out of a deep concern for the people they love. That’s why I love helping families enjoy peace of mind and protect their hard-earned assets.
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