Elena Flores is an estate planning attorney with many years of experience. An estate plan refers to the management and distribution of your assets during your life and at death. Estate planning allows you to: name beneficiaries to your estate upon death, name certain people to be in charge of financial and medical decisions in case of incapacity, and name guardians for minor children.
Estate planning can consist of the following documents:
1) Trust;
2) Will;
3) Durable Power of Attorney;
4) Advance Health Care Directive;
5) Trust Certification; and
6) Other Ancillary Documents.
Why do I Need A Will?
A Will allows you to name beneficiaries who will inherit your assets when you die and to name guardians to care for minor children.
The State will decide who your beneficiaries will be (“intestacy”) and a Judge will decide who will care for your minor children.
No. A Will should be customized to fit your situation. A customized Will can include tax planning provisions as well as testamentary trusts to provide for management and control of inheritances.
A Living Trust is used instead of a Will to name beneficiaries for inheritances. A Living Trust allows your beneficiaries to avoid Probate, a court proceeding that takes time and is expensive.
A Living Trust is created with a document called a Trust Agreement. You name beneficiaries in the Trust Agreement as you do in a Will. The maker of the trust is named as the “Trustee” (legal owner of trust assets) and lifetime beneficiary (consumer of trust assets). You name a Successor Trustee who is responsible to distribute trust assets or manage trust assets for beneficiaries, including the trust maker if incapacitated during lifetime.
A Power of Attorney is a document used to name another person to make decisions for you. Generally, there may be a Power of Attorney for financial matters and one for health care. A Power of Attorney is called “Durable” when the Agent may act if the maker becomes incapacitated.
The maker of the Power of Attorney is called the “Principal” and the person named to make decisions for the Principal is called the “Agent.” The powers granted to the Agent, either financial or health care decision-making, are set out in the Power of Attorney document utilized.
The Power of Attorney will specify whether the Agent can act immediately or only after a specific event occurs, such as the Principal being declared incapacitated.
A “Springing Power” is often used in estate planning since the Agent does not have the power to act until the Principal is declared incapacitated, usually by doctors.
The Health Care Directive names an Agent to make health care decisions for the Principal, usually because the Principal is unable to act at some point in time due to health reasons.
Schedule an appointment for more information. We would be happy to discuss your particular case and create a customized estate plan that fits your needs.
For Your
