Pre-Planning your estate is one of the most important things you will ever do in your lifetime. We don’t want to think about incapacitation, death and dying but the reality is, at least one is going to happen and it is crucial that we are prepared. What makes planning so important is, Peace Of Mind. In the event a person should become incapacitated or pass away, their wishes would be assured to be carried out and their property and assets would be protected. Below are a few examples.
A living trust is defined as, a legal document, or trust, created during an individual’s lifetime where a designated person, the trustee, is given responsibility for managing that individual’s assets for the benefit of the eventual beneficiary. These trusts can be very beneficial in the event an individual becomes incapacitated and can no longer handle their business affairs on their own due to an accident or health-related issue.
Wills are common to everyone, yet statistically, most people these days do not have a will on file. Often the consensus is, “my kids can have my car or house when I die” Unfortunately, that is often where it ends. When someone dies “intestate” or without a will, anything they have wished to be left to a particular family member or friend can pose several issues.
One of these issues is other family members disputing over rights with no real way to come to a resolution. The other issue is that the person the property, vehicle, bank account and so on are left to verbally but without written documentation, can find it quite difficult to gain legal possession due to lack of documentation. Not to say it is always completely impossible but it is very difficult and in some cases, it can be impossible. We have seen many properties people have worked a lifetime for, be sold at county auctions just because taxes were not paid because no one was able to gain possession.
Living Wills protect your wishes where your health is concerned. An example of this would be someone who may be terminally ill and wishes not to have advanced life-sustaining measures carried out. Another would be in the event of a traumatic accident where there may be a decision to be made whether or not to maintain life support.
These are just a few examples of how important it is to look at estate planning that allows you to have security and peace of mind now, and to protect your assets, yourself, and your family. All of these examples are reversible and transferable at any time during the course of cognitive life and are very affordable for the amount of protection they offer.
If you would like a free and confidential consultation on any of these options of estate planning, please feel free to contact me for an appointment. I look forward to assisting you.
Johnny M. Harvill PA