Summary: Virtually everybody needs an
estate plan. Whether you are young or old, rich or broke, or you're somewhere
in between, an estate plan can offer you substantial benefits. Even if you have
no wealth, your plan can still be valuable to you, as it can help out when you
cannot make decisions for yourself. Through the use of powers of attorney and
living wills, you plan can make sure that your wishes are honored and your
family avoids the arduous process of legal guardianship.
Authoritative journals and news media
reports are full of stories that say just about "everyone needs an estate
plan." Perhaps you have even read one or more of these pieces. Despite
these intelligent and persuasive arguments, maybe you remain skeptical. Possibly
you've said to yourself, "I'm single and I'm broke. I have no assets to
leave and nobody to leave them to, anyway." Maybe you're young and healthy
and have concluded that you have no need for an estate plan and that you will
consider pursuing one once you're much older, or at least, once you've
established a career, gotten married or had kids.
This type of thinking can be a major
mistake. Even if your assets are minimal and you are unmarried with no kids,
there are still very important reasons why you should get an estate plan
drafted and executed. One of the biggest reasons is that your estate plan does
more than just distribute your assets. Your estate plan, if it is a complete
one can, in fact, help you out even before you die.
Anyone, whether young or old, can
possibly suffer a traumatic injury that leaves them unable to make their own
decisions. Sharon Kowalski, whose guardianship case went to the Minnesota Court
of Appeals in 1991 and was one of the first cases addressing guardianships and
LGBT people, was only 27 when an accident involving a drunk driver left her
paralyzed. Nancy Cruzan, whose court case was an early major one in
right-to-die litigation, was only 25 when a single-car crash left her in a
permanent vegetative state. Terri Schiavo, whose court case dominated news
headlines in the mid 2000s, was 26 when a cardiac arrest deprived her brain of
oxygen and left her in a permanent vegetative state.
If you suffer an injury due to illness
or accident, and that injury leaves you unable to make decisions for yourself,
there are only two ways to authorize another person to make decisions for you.
One is for a person to go to court, file a legal action, obtain a hearing and
persuade a judge that the law should establish a guardianship over you and that
the judge should appoint a guardian to make your decisions for you. While the
judge will make his/her decision based upon your best interests, if you have no
estate plan, he/she will make that decision with no input from you.
The other way is a method where you have
the control over who makes your decisions for you when you cannot make your
own. This method entails creating an estate plan with powers of attorney. With
your financial power of attorney, all of the management of all of your assets
is handling by the person you have hand-picked to carry out (and, presumably,
who has willingly accepted) the task of handling all of those decisions. Your
healthcare power of attorney and your living will give you the opportunity to
communicate with your doctors and other medical providers regarding what types
of medical care and life-extending services you want... and don't want. Your
documents also allow you to name the person you want (and who is willing to
handle) making your medical decisions, including end-of-life ones.
This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com.
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