How Estate Planning Attorneys Can Help Your Family

Planning what happens after your death can help your family dramatically. Once you're gone, there are a number of things surviving family members will have to think of from planning a service to burial arrangements. Instead of leaving it all to chance, consider working with estate planning attorneys to ensure everything is taken care of before it's needed.

A Will Ensures Assets Are Distributed And Children Are Taken Care Of

For a long time, it was thought that only wealthy people needed wills. However, everyone should have one. Many people have assets such as a car, home, savings account and more. Having this important document drawn up lets your family know what should happen with these matters after you've passed. Although you'll be gone, a professionally executed will can eliminate bickering and negative feelings among your bereaved friends and family.

If you have minor children, it's a definite must. This legal document will spell out what should happen to your children if you die. Without such, your children could find themselves in the middle of a custody battle between relatives, be placed in foster care, or end up with a relative who may be uncomfortable acting as their guardian.

A Living Will Ensures Your Medical Wishes Are Followed

A living will is a much different type of document. A living will, also known as an advanced medical directive, spells out what you want to happen in the event that you become too sick or incapacitated to make decisions for yourself. You can also appoint someone to act as your medical power of attorney, which is the person responsible for medical decisions in the event that you're unable to make them for yourself. Many states have outlined statutes that determine when an advanced medical directive goes into effect. If you're unsure about what's best for you, contact estate lawyers in your area and ask for advice.

Ask Estate Attorneys About Trusts: They're Not Just For The Wealthy

A trust fund conjures up images of wealthy young people who've never worked a day in their life, but this is a complete stereotype. Anyone with assets to pass on can create a trust for a relative. Estate planning attorneys can explain trusts in greater detail but, basically, a trust provides the deceased with the ability to determine how money is to be spent after they're gone. Trusts are the perfect solution if you want to ensure that your beneficiaries finish college before the money is distributed or if you want to space out the distributions so the beneficiary isn't provided with one large lump sum of cash.

These documents aren't the only ones that estate lawyers can help with. Make a list of your assets and then talk with estate attorneys to see which documents they recommend for your specific situation. There's no one-size-fits-all solution for estate planning. Attorneys who help with this specific type of planning for the future should be consulted before making any decision that affects your relatives.

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Health Care Directives As Part Of Your Estate Plan

If you're like most people, the words "estate planning" bring to mind such concepts as wills, trusts, life insurance policies, and other methods of transferring wealth and assets to your heirs following your death. However, a complete estate plan should also anticipate and address decisions to be made during your life, in the event of your own terminal illness, serious injury, or incapacity. Several estate planning tools deal with such situations. What follows are brief descriptions of the estate planning tools that allow you to declare your wishes regarding major health care and medical decisions, and to appoint a trusted individual to make such decisions for you, in the event you are unable to do so yourself. Because the laws regarding these documents vary from state to state, it is beyond the scope of this article to list the specific requirements for each (see our directory for links to each state's living will forms).

LIVING WILL

In the event of a serious accident or illness, your condition may prevent you from communicating your wishes to physicians or other healthcare providers about whether or not to provide life-prolonging procedures. The choice is yours - you can either direct that no life-prolonging procedures be used, or that any and all available procedures be used to keep you alive for as long as possible, regardless of your prognosis for recovery. By preparing a living will, you can declare your wishes now, while you are able to make and communicate such wishes.

If you should become incapacitated (for example in a coma), and a physician has determined that your condition is irreversible, with no possibility of recovery, then the physicians will follow the instructions in your living will. In the absence of a living will, your family or other loved ones may be required to make this decision for you. If you have failed to make your wishes known, your family might have to guess what your decision would be. This can obviously lead to tremendous stress, anxiety, and possibly even family conflict. Make your wishes known and document them in a living will before it's too late.

When preparing a living will, be sure to follow your state's laws regarding the formalities for such a document to be valid and effective. Many states specify the format to be used for a living will (for example, see the Illinois standard form for living wills). You may wish to consult an attorney for assistance in the preparation of this important document.

DO NOT RESUSCITATE ORDER

It may be necessary to have a Do Not Resuscitate Order ("DNRO") in addition to your living will. Emergency medical services personnel (such as paramedics or emergency room staff) may not be permitted or required to honor a living will, but would generally be required to honor a DNRO. Speak to your physician about obtaining a DNRO.

DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTH CARE

You can use a durable power of attorney ("POA") for health care to appoint an attorney-in-fact (agent) to make health care decisions on your behalf, in the event that you are unable to make or communicate such decisions yourself. Whereas a living will addresses life-prolonging treatments, a health care POA also encompasses other medical treatments, as well as decisions regarding nursing home care, surgeries, etc. A health care POA may also come into play in situations in which the reversibility or irreversibility of your condition cannot be determined with certainty (in which case a living will may not be given effect). In the absence of such a document, the law would most likely allow your spouse or other close family member to make such decisions, but these individuals may not be aware of what your own wishes would be. So again, preparing a health care POA will not only ensure that your own wishes are carried out, but can also save your family from the stress and uncertainty of having to guess what your wishes would be. To ensure your agent knows and understands your wishes, you should of course discuss the contents of your health care POA with your agent.

A Health Care Advance Directive is a document that combines your living will and health care power of attorney in one document.

CONCLUSION

A comprehensive estate plan should include not only instructions about your assets to be put into effect after your death, but also one or all of the above health care directives to be followed in the event of your own incapacity, terminal illness, or serious injury.

You may prepare your own health care directives using such services as LegalZoom or Nolo Press (see below). However, you may wish to consult an attorney to answer your specific questions, or for unique or unusually complex circumstances.

Why a Living Trust Is Usually Made   What Is The Role Of A Probate Solicitor?   New Year's Resolution: Make or Revise Your Will   How Inheritance Claims Can Prove Very Difficult