Only one out of every three American adults has plans for palliative care. This is a poor choice for many reasons including strain placed on families and uncertain finances.
If you want to stay ahead and rest assured that your loved ones will be provided for, it’s essential to talk to an estate planning lawyer. Read on to learn what these attornies can do for you.
Write a Last Will and Testament
Writing a last will and testament is both emotionally painful and logistically difficult. Luckily, estate planning attorneys can help you organize a last will that your loved ones will be able to interpret easily. This is critical to preventing disputes between family members after you pass away and ensuring all of your assets go to the appropriate place.
Set Up a Trust
The importance of having a living trust is widely unknown, but it’s essential for protecting your assets. Trusts are created while the creator is alive and are revocable later in life.
A trustee is designated, and that person holds legal possession of the assets that go into the trust. The recipient can access the trust when the writer passes away. The purpose of these documents is to easily transfer assets within the trust while bypassing the probate processes that a will would require.
Prepare for End-of-Life Scenarios
The best estate planning lawyer can help you to prepare for end-of-life scenarios that you may not have yet considered.
These situations include who will call the shots if you’re unconscious and in hospice care. They also include those where you lose your memory or are unconscious.
Basically, if you’re unable to make decisions, your estate plan will detail who makes them for you. It also may lay out terms such as whether you want risky surgeries, whether you should be resuscitated, and more.
Designate Power of Attorney
An estate planner can also designate power of attorney. This ensures that the appropriate person will execute your will after you’re gone and make the decisions that you would have wanted. This should be a spouse, child, or person who you trust implicitly.
Make sure that you talk to this person to let them know that you have given them this power. You also need to show them any documents that they might need to carry out your will.
Find an Estate Planning Lawyer Today
Talking to an estate planning lawyer is essential. However, it’s also a good idea to take the necessary steps to ensure that you don’t need to execute your plans for a good long time.
Check out the ‘lifestyle & health’ tab on our home page to ensure that you can live in good health for many more years. You can also take a look at the ‘tech’ tab to find websites and applications that will guide you through the process of finding an estate planning attorney.
