“What is estate planning?”
This is a question I’m asked all the time. An estate plan is a set of documents that lays out your wishes regarding who can take care of your assets, your person and your family if you are unable to do so. The focus is often on older generations to get their estate plan in order, however, estate planning is important at every stage of life.
Young Adults
The minute you turn 18, your parents no longer have automatic decision-making authority on your behalf. This can create problems if you are in an accident or have a medical emergency that leaves you unable to handle your affairs and make medical decisions. A further complicating factor is if your parents are divorced or don’t get along, and they can’t agree on who should make decisions on your behalf. If you sign powers of attorney, you get to designate who you want to handle your financial affairs and your medical decisions if you are unable to do so. The person you choose does not need to be one of your parents.
New Homeowners
Once you own assets like a house, estate planning is critical because if you were to pass away or become incapacitated without an estate plan in place, costly court proceedings would be necessary to be able to take care of your house. This can be avoided by having the appropriate documents. A durable power of attorney can handle the possible sale of your house during your lifetime if you became incapacitated and a Transfer on Death Deed would allow your house to transfer to a chosen beneficiary upon your death to avoid a probate proceeding.
New Parents
Leaving the kids home for the first time to go out of town often leads to a couple’s first meeting with an estate planning attorney. Parents want to make sure their affairs are in order in case something happens on their trip. The biggest decisions to be made are who will take care of your children if you can’t and how will your assets be used for their care. If you don’t make these choices yourself, your family could fight over guardianship, and your children might end up with family members you don’t want to raise them. The best way to avoid this scenario is to make your desires clear in a comprehensive estate plan that protects your children and preserves your assets for their care.
Empty Nesters
You did it – you have raised your children, and they are now adult members of society. However, if you already made an estate plan when your kids were young it might be outdated or no longer meet your family’s current needs. Or the people you chose years ago are no longer the people you would choose today to handle your affairs. This is a great time to update your estate plan or get an estate plan in place to make sure if the worst were to happen, your children could make decisions on your behalf with a power of attorney or handle your estate.
Retirees
This is the point when most people start to think “I really need to get something done” and still don’t reach out to set up an appointment. If you wait too long, you may no longer have the mental capacity to sign documents or you could die suddenly. Under either of these scenarios, getting your estate in order is a great gift to your family as it avoids leaving a costly mess for them to clean up after your death or disability. That mess might include not having powers of attorney in place if you have a stroke, leaving your family to go to court to get control of your finances and make medical decisions for you. Or it could mean having to start a costly and time consuming probate process in order to transfer your estate to your family. Both situatiuons can be avoided with a well-drafted estate plan.
Next Steps
I am sure as you read this, you realize that you or someone you love falls into one of the categories above. So what should the next step be? You need to reach out to a Kansas Estate Planning attorney to start the process of getting an estate plan in place.
Our firm, Minter & Pollak, LC provides free consultations for estate planning matters. We try to get you in within seven days of your initial contact and have documents ready in two weeks of your consultation, schedule permitting.
We make it simple. There is no need to bring in lots of information for your initial consultation, we just need you and a general idea of your assets and family dynamics. From there we provide a flat fee estimate for the estate plan that best fits your family.
If you are interested in a free consultation please call us at 316-265-0797 or visit our website.
Sponsored by Minter & Pollak, LC.
