
What Needs to Be Reviewed in Estate Plan?
Here are some important parts of your estate plan that should be reviewed.
Here are some important parts of your estate plan that should be reviewed.
This is big concern for millions of older Americans who don’t have a spouse, children or other family they can depend on to watch out for their well-being.
If you don’t have a spouse or children, you might think you don’t need to do much estate planning. However, if you have any assets, familial connections, or interest in supporting charitable groups – not to mention a desire to control your own future – you do need to establish an estate plan.
If you don’t have a will and an estate plan, probate is an after-you’ve-gone legal struggle. It could last months, if not years, in a battle over what you intended your family (or friends) to have: your estate!
The first step in getting your affairs in order is to gather up all your important personal, financial and legal information, so you can arrange it in a format that will benefit you now and your loved ones later.
There are good reasons why people want their estates to avoid probate, and a lot of ways to do it.
To get power of attorney (POA), the person granting you that power must name you as the agent to have the powers specified in the POA document. It must be signed by the giver while s/he is sound of mind.
Your last will and testament is one of the most important legal documents that you will ever make. It allows you to direct where you want your property, guardianship and debts to go after you die, and allows you to appoint an executor to act out your wishes.
For those of us involved as care providers for someone having difficulty handling his/her own affairs, whether it’s a family member or not, requires that we have the legal authority to do what’s in that person’s best interest.
If you have a parent over the age of, say, 65, thoughts about their future may have started to creep into your mind. But because end-of-life planning can be emotional and overwhelming, it’s tempting to put these conversations off — and even more pleasing to avoid them altogether. If there’s a lesson to be learned from the pandemic, however, it’s that waiting until the last minute to prepare is seldom a good idea.
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