|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Get professional guidance with some of life's most important decisions |
ESTATE AND HEALTH CARE PLANNING
ESTATE PLANNING
THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING YOUR LOVED ONES WILL BE PROVIDED FOR
The estate planning attorney discusses with the client various ways of handling the client's estate and disposing of his or her property. The attorney helps the client choose the best way under the particular circumstances to meet the client's needs and desires, taking into consideration factors like avoidance of probate, avoiding or minimizing estate taxes, disposing of property in the special ways the client may have in mind, etc.
Three areas are of primary importance to the estate planning lawyer:
- How best to meet the client's desires regarding the distribution of his or her property after death
- How best to provide for the client's underage children after the client's death
- How best to deal with situations where the client is too sick or infirm to make his or her own medical decisions.
DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY
Property can be disposed of after death in a number of ways.
Some property can be distributed pursuant to a contract. The client enters into a contract with a third party, for example a life insurance company, to pay money to a named beneficiary upon client's death.
Another way to dispose of property is by joint tenancy, where the client and one or more others, often a spouse, agree to own property jointly. When one of the joint owners dies, his share passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant(s).
Another way to dispose of property is by a testamentary disposition, in other words a will, which states who is to receive designated property of the client after his or her death and under what circumstances. Property can be bequeathed outright to a person or the disposition of the property can be made subject to certain conditions, for example, the will can state that the property will be given to a child but only after he or she has attained a certain age.
Another way to dispose of property is by a trust agreement under which the client agrees to put money or other property into the care of a trustee, either a family member or a professional, who will manage the property for a stated period of time or until a certain event occurs, and then distribute the property in accordance with specific instructions set out by the client in the agreement.
When a client or clients have young children it is important to consider making provision for guardians in the will, in case both parents should die while one or more of their children have not yet reached the legal age of 18. Clients most often will consider family members who they trust and with whom they share common values and beliefs. The attorney discusses this subject with the clients and proposes a guardianship provision that will meet their needs.
HEALTH CARE PLANNING
GAIN PEACE OF MIND THAT YOUR MEDICAL CHOICES WILL BE HONORED
Of increasing importance these days is what kind of medical care the client will receive should he or she become unconscious or otherwise unable to make reasoned health care decisions.
One approach is the Living Will in which the clients set forth all the conditions under which they would want to be cared for should something happen to them. Health care institutions differ one from another as to what they require in a living will. Instead of the living will, I recommend that clients consider using the Advanced Health Care Directive authorized by Minnesota statute. Under this Directive, the client names a primary and one or more alternate individuals who are given the complete authority to make health care decisions for the client should he or she be unable to make them. Again, as with the guardianship, the client will want to name only individuals they trust and who share their particular values and beliefs regarding health care. The estate planning attorney will carefully explore this subject with clients.
Considering these matters can give peace of mind to clients as well as to their family members.
Contact Bill to learn more.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
HOME