Estate Planning: Wills, Trusts,Power of Attorney

Essential to Your Life Plan

What are your wishes after you die? What about when you are still alive, but have lost the mental or physical capacity to express your medical instructions? Estate planning by creating a will, trust and/or a power of attorney can address such issues. 

By not having a properly executed will or trust, your assets will be administered by the state through the probate courts and decisions on how your final estate is settled will be handled by the court. 

Implementing an estate plan can save your estate money in the future, precious time from the delay in closing the estate, and prevent your loved ones from potential financial hardships and family strife. 

Having to make decisions related to your affairs after your death is not pleasant to contemplate. These decisions are necessary for your intentions to be properly administered in order for the next generational family members, friends, and/or charities to receive your assets without legal and/or personal confrontations as you intended. Additionally, if you have children who will be their guardian and handle their inherited assets? 

Furthermore, Living wills dictate your personal health wishes when you are unable to communicate the desires and intentions for your health care. 

POWER OF ATTORNEY

A power of attorney provides for authorizing another party to have your directive acting as your agent to make decisions concerning your affairs such as personal property, financial issues, and personal health care decisions in the event of your incapacity to perform these decisions is diminished. There are various types of power of attorney depending on the level and circumstances one dictates to relinquish personal power to another. The power granted can be temporary or temporary, open or limited to particular activities. 

WILL OR TRUST?

Depending on the issues to be addressed, a will or trust can be executed to handle the dissipation of your assets to whomever you would like to be the recipient of i.e. the beneficiary of the designated assets depending on the state law if you have children and/or are married. 

A will is a written document that becomes effective upon the death of the testator (person who makes the will). It can provide for the decedent’s wishes for naming guardians of minor children to bequeathing assets to family, friends, and/or charities. The will becomes a public record having to be processed in the legal system through the probate court which can delay the closing of the estate. 

A trust unlike a will becomes effective upon its determination and can be created for a variety of functions by giving third-party instructions on the manner by which the declarant (the person creating the trust) intends for the assets to be dissipated. The trust can either be a testamentary trust (after death),  or a living trust which can either be revocable or irrevocable. A trust is not a public document thus providing for greater privacy to the deceased, the family, and other recipients; and provides for a more straightforward estate transfer process by not being subject to review through probate courts. 

The issues to be considered in implementing a proper estate plan with either a will or a trust are full of complications. 

The Bales Law firm consults with their clients in determining the estate planning needs pertinent to the personal and family financial circumstances, the financial and medical considerations