Estate planning requires the support and advice of an experienced estate planning attorney, to assist with the processing of a person’s effects, including assets, estate, and even intellectual and non-tangible property. Once a person has chosen the estate planning attorney that suits them best, these are the issues they need to discuss and address.
1. Asset Distribution: The most common document for the distribution of assets is the will. It is a legalized document that clearly establishes how a person’s assets will be divided among the heirs, in the event of the owner’s death. An estate planning attorney makes sure that the designed will includes all the important aspects of distribution to avoid feelings of unhappiness among the survivors.
2. Administration of Assets of the Surviving Spouse and Others: In the will, designed with constant advice and legal advice, the estate planning attorney may suggest the formation of a trust. This trust will hold and provide for the assets of the particular named person, say the spouse. Setting up a trust will also help lessen the tax burden on survivors.
3. Guardianship of dependents: The will can also help secure the support of any dependents, including minors, family members with special needs, or mental or physical illnesses. In the will, a guardian may be appointed who will be entrusted with the responsibility of caring for dependents. In the case of minors, this responsibility can be entrusted to the guardian until the children reach the age of majority. The appointment of a guardian should be made after discussion and advice with the person one wishes to assume responsibility.
4. Charitable donations: In the will, you can also designate the assets that you want to give to charity. Legal and tax advice is important to ensure that the gift is accepted and allocated as instructed in the will. Charitable gifts include donations, life insurance, property, financial accounts, stocks and shares, trusts, and IRAs.
5. Health Care Decisions: one of the most important issues an estate planning attorney can help with. This can involve everything from medical procedures you don’t want, to whether you want to be cremated or buried. Most of these decisions are made with the uncertainty of life in mind and how you may not be in a position to make decisions about how you want to be cared for. These advance directives are set out in a legal document, called a Living Will.
6. Power of attorney: this legal document puts a person in charge of making decisions in your absence. Specific powers, such as health care, financial assistance, etc. it may also be assigned to ensure that no one person has a burden, or that someone with specialized knowledge handles one’s assets after death. This will help resolve any power struggles the survivors may have. Power of attorney can also be mentioned in the living will, to entrust a responsible and most trusted person with full authority over any decision that needs to be made.