Estate planning is essential for taking care of our families during our incompetence or after our death, but so many don’t do it. Some don’t understand what is estate planning or why it is important. Many of us don’t want to think about, much less talk about, our eventual death. We find it morbid, scary, and emotionally charged, particularly if we have young children. The reality is that we can’t predict what will happen or when it will or may happen. We can’t control the other driver on the road, the hidden aneurysm, or the undetected cancer growing and spreading.
If you are a parent to young children, the questions of “What will happen to my children if something happens to both of us (parents)?” or “What will happen to my children if I get really sick?” likely cross your mind. How often have you taken a trip and thought, “I hope nothing happens because I don’t have my last will and testament in place?” I know you have that thought because I often hear that from clients as they rush in to complete documents before leaving for a trip or from others who volunteer that information when they learn I’m an estate planning lawyer.
Why Estate Planning is Important
We all know that “something” can happen at any moment. Our head tells us that, but too often, our heart doesn’t want to deal with it. We tell ourselves we’ll get to “it” “one day” without accepting that “one day” may be too late. Saying “it” rather than speaking out loud “estate plan” suppresses (maybe “sugarcoats” is better) the reasons why an estate plan is needed, as if not saying “estate plan” will somehow protect us from our eventual death. We don’t like talking about death and dying. We don’t like facing our mortality or vulnerability.
Preparing your estate plan is focusing on something other than dying. It’s living intentionally, taking care of business now, so you can have peace knowing your family is protected and your wishes honored. The purpose and importance of an estate plan are that it allows you to make the decisions, while able, about the disposition of your assets at your death; that is, you get to decide who gets what. More importantly, you can appoint guardians for minor children to ensure that if you cannot raise them, they are raised by whom you want to raise them. An estate plan allows you to be in control of those decisions.
An estate plan also allows you to decide who can make decisions for you and handle your financial, legal, and medical affairs if you cannot do any of these things yourself. Imagine being in a car accident that results in a lengthy hospital stay. Who will ensure the electricity doesn’t get shut off, the mortgage gets paid, the kids still get to doctors’ appointments and school, and the auto and health insurance companies are working on your behalf? And, when you are in the hospital and unable to talk on the phone, access your online account, or go to the bank, it is precisely when some bozo will use your debit card on a shopping spree in another state.
WHAT IS AN ESTATE PLAN?
An estate plan is a comprehensive set of documents and strategies to manage and distribute assets during a person’s lifetime and after death and to prepare for unexpected life events that may cause a person to be incompetent, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to make their own decisions. Estate planning can be a collaborative effort between your lawyer, accountant, and financial planner or advisor to structure the best strategy for you. For purposes of this book, I will focus on the legal side of estate planning.
There are three major components, or elements, of every estate plan in Alabama, where I practice law. Those components are: Last Will and Testament, Power of Attorney, and Advance Directive for Health Care. These essential documents should be part of every person’s estate plan, regardless of net worth. Admittedly, some people may not need a Will depending on how assets are structured. However, it is undoubtedly better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have it. An estate plan may also include a trust. Once considered only for wealthy people, trusts have quickly become a favorite tool of many clients, regardless of net worth, to transfer property more easily after death. Parents of young children or special needs children will likely need a trust. Whether or not you need a trust or will benefit from a trust will be determined after consultation with your estate planning lawyer.
Huntsville Estate Planning Now
Huntsville and Alabama residents who want to ensure their wishes are honored and their families are protected should consult with an experienced estate planning attorney to prepare their last will and testament, power of attorney, and advance directive for health care. Huntsville estate planning lawyer Tanya Hendrix will be happy to prepare those documents to give you peace of mind. Contact Huntsville Estate Planning Lawyer LLC to schedule a consultation to take the first step toward that peace of mind.
