ESTATE PLANNING
If you become incapacitated, meaning that you are alive but unable to manage your own affairs, someone will need the legal authority to step in to handle your medical care and your finances. No one—not even a spouse if you are married—can automatically act on your behalf. Without legal documents that name whom you want to act on your behalf, your loved ones will have to go to court to ask a judge to appoint someone. The court will look to the state’s default priority rules for whom to appoint.
When you pass away, someone will need the legal authority to manage your estate. As with incapacity, no one can automatically step in. Without legal documents that name whom you trust for this role, a judge will have to appoint a personal representative or executor to handle everything and, again, will rely on the state’s default priority rules.
Also, if you pass away without an estate plan, your accounts and property may not just automatically transfer to your family. Your loved ones may need to go through probate court before they can transfer your accounts and property out of your name and into the names of your loved ones. Exactly who is to receive your estate, though, will be based on the state’s default law.
As you can see, failure to create an estate plan and having to rely on the state’s rules has clear drawbacks. Here are a few of the major ones:
The default rules might not reflect your wishes.
Informal statements have no legal authority and do not have to be followed.
Without clear instructions from you, confusion and disagreements can arise and, in some cases, even damage family relationships.
Probate is a court process, which means filings and records are open to the public. Also, the process can be both time consuming and expensive.
So what can you do to prevent all of this? What can you do right now to ensure that your wishes are clearly documented and your loved ones have the guidance they need? You can engage in intentional, proactive estate planning.
TYPES OF ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Like other important life tasks, your estate plan deserves your continued time and attention.
If you experience any of these significant life events, contact us, and we will help ensure that your estate plan reflects your goals and wishes.
Marriage
Have you recently gotten married? Congratulations! Marriage means new ways of sharing and managing finances and property. As a result, this is an important time to revisit your estate plan. With this life change, you will need to contact us to discuss any necessary changes to your will or trust, and financial and medical powers of attorney. You will also need to consider updates to your retirement account, life insurance, and investment account beneficiary designations. Updating your estate plan is especially important if it is a second marriage and children from a previous relationship are involved. Proper estate planning is the only way to ensure that you protect your loved ones the way you want
New Job
A new job presents an exciting new set of challenges and opportunities to explore. It also brings very real financial changes. You may be receiving new benefits that require new beneficiary designations. When filling out these forms, the beneficiaries must be named appropriately so that your estate plan will work as designed. In addition, you will need to make sure that your estate plan reflects the change in your financial status, whether it is a pay increase or a pay cut.
Retirement
Welcome to your golden years! Retirement brings lifestyle changes, more time for loved ones, and important financial transitions. We can help you update your estate plan now that you have stopped earning income and are beginning to use your retirement account. Also, with this newfound freedom, you may find yourself traveling more, making documents such as financial and medical powers of attorney more crucial.
Moved
If you have moved across state lines, you should consult with a local estate planning attorney to ensure that your estate planning documents are still legally valid and you are fully protected under the laws in your new state. Let us know your new location, and we may be able to recommend estate planning attorneys who can help you. If you have just moved to our state, we are happy to review your existing documents to determine if they comply with our state laws.
Regardless of where you moved from and moved to, a new home will need to be incorporated into your estate plan. If you contact us before the purchase, we can recommend how the deed should be drafted. If you have created a revocable living trust as the foundational tool in your estate plan, it may be best, depending on the situation, to have the home titled in the name of your trust. If you have already purchased your new home, we can file a new deed if needed to make sure the property is titled in a way that aligns with your estate plan.
Divorce
Experiencing a divorce is one of the most difficult times in a person’s life. But looking out for your financial well-being and planning for the future is critical. While your divorce is pending, you can meet with us to discuss what changes, if any, you are permitted to make to your estate plan. Once your divorce has been finalized, we can help you update your plan as needed or desired. This process may include revising your will or trust, changing beneficiary designations on certain accounts (such as life insurance or retirement accounts), and ensuring that your ex-spouse does not inherit from you or have the authority to make financial or medical decisions on your behalf should you be unable to do so yourself. If you have any life insurance requirements in your marital agreement to help satisfy a maintenance or child support obligation, we can also help incorporate them into your estate plan.
Death of a Loved One
There is so much to handle after the loss of a loved one. Take some time to be with those you care about and honor the life of the one you lost. When you are ready, remember that it is important to review your estate plan and consider whether any updates are needed. You may need to remove the deceased loved one as a beneficiary from any will, trust, life insurance policy, or retirement account, and determine who will receive that inheritance now. Reviewing your plan to identify whether your deceased loved one was appointed as one of your trusted decision makers (agent under a financial or medical power of attorney, successor trustee, or personal representative/executor) is important. If so, we can help you choose replacement decision makers and update your documents accordingly.