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A Will Is The Foundation Of A Good Estate Plan
No matter how much money you have it is important to have a basic estate plan to protect your family and your assets after your death. An estate plan can be as simple as a last will and testament to extremely detailed to contain a power of attorney, a living will and even a trust. We’ll cover each of these tools in order.
Last will and testament – This is the most basic, and often the most important, element of an estate plan. You last will states your intentions regarding your property upon your death. As fundamental as a will is to your plan they are not necessarily easy to get right. If you try and write your own will and make a significant mistake your will make be disqualified and your estate will be distributed as if you didn’t have a will at all. While probate laws in each state are written to handle this process in a reasonable manner, the state rules could run exactly counter to your personal wishes. Hiring a professional to help draft your last will is a wise investment.
Power of Attorney – A power of attorney is a legal document that authorizes somebody to act on your behalf in legal or business matters. A durable power of attorney is a special kind that allows the rights granted to be effective if you become incapacitated due to injury or mental illness. Durable powers of attorney can by financial and medical in nature. A Health Care Power of Attorney is a durable power of attorney that authorizes the appointed agent to make health care decisions for up. The authorization can include the ability to stop life sustaining medical support if it is keeping a terminally ill patient alive.
Living Will – A living will is an advanced directive that spells out your wishes to caregivers if you become unable to communicate them due to incapacity. It can be very specific to certain situations such as not wanting to maintain life support if a physician determines that your situation is terminal. A living will is usually created in conjunction with a Health Care Power of Attorney.
Trusts – Trusts are legal devices that let you place restrictions on how and when your assets will be distributed upon your death. A great example of establishing a trust is if you want to leave assets to your minor children. You can place those assets in trust and limit the asset dispersal schedule to future ages or events that you deem appropriate. Trusts can also be used as a tax planning device to allow your assets to be transfer by a different path.
Tax planning – There are a wide variety of tools that can be used to manage the tax burden at your death. These include life insurance, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, qualified personal residence trusts and more.
Your first step is to create a list of all of the property you own. Once you have this list make a determination about who you want to receive each item. At this point it is a good idea to talk to your immediate family regarding your wishes as this can avoid significant problem in the future.
Setting up a Will in Texas can seem like a complicated process but take it one step at a time and you will quickly gain the peace of mind know that you and your loved ones will be taken care of if you should pass away. Enlisting the aid of a professional estate attorney will help you land with the exact types of documents that will most help you and your particular needs.
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