Today's lesson is about some simple estate planning documents that it would benefit you to get these done now. We have clients coming in to us, generally in their 60s, and a lot of them turning 65, and talking to us about Medicare and then they subsequently hire us to do some financial planning, and most people either don't have these documents, they don't have them completely, or they certainly did them back when they were had small children and they haven't updated them since that time. Let's talk about these documents, what they are and why you need them. The first and most obvious one that everyone should have is a WILL. If you're to die without a WILL (technical term intestate), that's problematic, see you actually have a WILL, it's just your state that you reside in has has done it for you. A person that dies intestate creates unnecessary hassles and delays, and in some cases the stuff you wanted to go to someone may end up with someone else.

The thing about a WILL is that it doesn’t have to be real

sophisticated, but it does need to specify who gets what, who's going to take

care of my property or sell it, and that kind of thing. There needs to be

an Executor. Once you have that in place, or have an attorney put one in place

for you, then part of the goal is to try and keep as much out of your WILL as

possible. This is done by using properly completed beneficiary

designations, or on the financial accounts using what's called transfer on

death. It does sound a little ironic – make or keep an updated WILL, but then

do everything you can to pass assets without using it.

Now of the 4 documents, only one of them is for after you

die, the other 3 cease in effect upon your death. The #2 document is a (durable)

power of attorney or financial power of attorney, different states and

jurisdictions refer to it as something else. Essentially you are designating

somebody to conduct your business affairs while you are still alive. They

can sit down with the people and signa 

contract or pay bills on your behalf. Durable refers to making those

decisions if you become incapacitated. Ideally this person is younger

than you, so that when you're in your 80s they are still able to act on

your behalf.

If you are in your 80s now then we suggest having someone

who is 20 years 30 years younger than you, like family; son, daughter, niece, nephew

or someone that you consider a very trusted person. This should be someone that

you can count on, in a sound mind, that's trusted, that's going to act on

your behalf. You should consider having more than just one person, because the

person you choose may predecease you.

#3 is a HEALTH CARE POWER OF ATTORNEY or PROXY (again depending on the state where you live) A HEALTH CARE POWER OF ATTORNEY or PROXY is different from a regular power of attorney as it just allows a person to make health care decisions on your behalf, like whether they're going to do surgery or not, whether they're going to have some type of therapy, what your living setting is, whether you can stay home and use utilize home health care, or you need to go to an assisted living or a nursing home. Having somebody that has the legal authority to act for health care decisions is extremely important. It does not need to be the same person as your DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY, but it can be. This will all depend on you and the people you know, who may be good with these types of decisions and who would be better suited with handling all of your financial details.  

#4 HIPAA RELEASE now most people have already done this. “I

already signed that” or “my doctor had me do this”, well yeah, you did, but

that’s just for your doctor, for you as the  patient. Are you married? Does your spouse

have the ability to talk to the doctors on your behalf? What about their

doctors? Can you talk to them on your spouse’s behalf? The answer is probably

not. A HIPAA RELEASE gives the person blanket authorization, so if

you were helping one of your parents and bringing them in to the doctor’s

office for a check-up or procedure, then you could go up to the counter to

handle the intake, etc.. your parent wouldn’t have too.

So that's the 4 documents that you need, as we mentioned you

don't need to pay a huge sum of money to have these created. But they are

important and every family should have them.

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