Why Do I Need An Estate Plan
We have heard all the reasons why you don’t think you need an estate plan – I’m not that old, I don’t have that much money, I’m healthy right now.
What would happen to your loved ones if you unexpectedly died or became incapacitated? Death and disability do not visit only the old, the wealthy, and the sick. Everyone needs some kind of estate plan.
If you became unable to make decisions for yourself, who could step in and help you pay your bills? Who would maintain your home? Who would take care of your children? Who would make your healthcare decisions? If you don’t have an estate plan, the courts will make these decisions. While the statutes give priority to family members when choosing someone to be your guardian or conservator or care for your children, the courts may not choose who you want. If they don’t choose who you want, then there maybe a fight among your family over who had the right to help you. That is one of the concerns we hear most from our clients – I want my children to get along and not fight. If you could prevent these fights by having a plan, why wouldn’t you?
So, what kind of plan do you need? Well, it depends. Everyone needs some basic documents to help in the event they become incapacitated:
· Property Power of Attorney: You authorize trusted individuals to make decisions for you regarding your property while you are alive. This power of attorney can be immediate (they can help you with decisions now) or springing (they can help you with decisions once you are incapacitated);
· Healthcare Power of Attorney: You authorize trusted individuals to make medical decisions for you, including who your providers are, helping make decisions on treatment, and deciding whether you stay in your home or need a higher level of medical care;
· Advanced Healthcare Directive: In this document, you direct what kind of care you would like to receive in the event you have an incurable condition from which you are likely to die. This can include whether you want to be maintained on life support.
· HIPAA Authorization: Under federal HIPAA laws, medical providers are only allowed to disclose your protected health information to those individuals that are authorized to receive it. While you are competent, you can continue to authorize access to your medical information. Once you lose capacity to make decisions, this document helps make sure your loved ones can receive important medical information about you.
· Last Will: When you die, certain steps must be taken to settle your estate. This includes paying your debts, filing tax returns, gathering assets, funeral arrangements, etc. By statute, if you don’t have a Will, the court must choose your personal representative. Without a Will, your personal representative does not have authority to sell property without authorization from a court and your personal representative will be required to purchase an insurance policy, called a bond. In a Will, you can choose your personal representative and grant them the authority to take all actions required to settle your estate and do so without a bond. But…
All of these documents are a good start…. But sometimes property powers of attorney are not accepted by all banks and investment companies… and… where there is a Will, there is a Probate. Probate is the long process where a court oversees the settling of your estate.
· Revocable Trust: If you want to avoid Probate and protect your assets upon death, a Revocable Trust is the answer. By working with our well-trained team, we can help you craft an estate plan with a Revocable Trust that maintains your control over your assets during lifetime and then ensures your property goes where you want it without putting your family through an unnecessary and expensive probate process.
Everyone needs some kind of estate plan. Lubnau Law offers a full range of legal planning, documents and strategies to help protect your family and assets now and into the future. Because the best things aren’t things.