Thursday, March 2, 2017

Estate Planning | The National Elections and Their Impact on Your Estate Plan

Summary: There are many things that can influence your estate plan and indicate a need for a change to your plan. That's why estate plan "checkups" are so important; they give you an opportunity to take a closer look at these events and how they impact the plans you've made. Sometimes the influential event is a change in your life; sometimes it's a change in the law. Whenever the country elects a new president, that election's result could impact the laws related to estate planning. That is especially true in 2016, as the outcome of this election could greatly impact the estate tax laws and, for some people, necessitate a significant re-analysis of the plans they've made.  


The two major party candidates appear to have significantly different visions of what the federal estate tax should look like under their leadership. Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton has proposed an increase in the estate tax rate. Under the Clinton plan, an estate that owed estate taxes would pay between 45 and 65 percent, depending on the size of that estate. Additionally, Clinton's plan would make a broader range of estates obligated to pay the tax. Currently, the estate tax exemption is $5.45 million for an individual, or $10.9 million for a couple. Clinton's plan would drop that exemption to $3.5 million for individuals, the lowest the exemption amount has been since 2009.

Republican nominee Donald Trump's plan calls for a complete elimination of the estate tax, but would impose a different tax at death in certain cases. Under Trump's plan, the federal government would impose a capital gains tax at death on assets in an estate that had appreciated in value over time. This would mean that anything from collectible fine art to investment holdings could be taxed at a rate just below 20%. The Trump plan would, however, carve out a $10 million exemption for small businesses and family farms.    

The leading candidate outside the two major party nominees is Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. Johnson's tax plan calls for a complete elimination of the estate tax, along with all income and payroll taxes. Under Johnson's plan, they would be replaced with a national consumption tax commonly known as the "Fair Tax." 

Each of these candidate's plan would obviously have a dramatically different impact on the planning of one's estate. Were Johnson to become president and enact his plan, there would be no need for any sort of estate planning to eliminate or minimize estate tax obligations, as no potential tax obligation would exist. Were Trump to become president and enact his plan, there might be a substantial need for some people to significantly alter their estate plans. If, for example, the Trump plan only imposed its capital gains tax on assets located inside a deceased person's probate estate, then the establishment of this plan might, for a substantial range of people, greatly expand the benefits of utilizing trusts as part of their estate plans. The Trump plan might also create other new techniques for minimizing or eliminating the death-triggered capital gains tax proposed under his plan.

If, as many pollsters forecast, Clinton becomes president, then many people may want to re-visit their estate plans. Currently, a married couple can potentially pass $10.9 million ($5.45 million each) of wealth at death without paying federal estate tax. Clinton's plan would lower the exemption to $3.5 million, or $7 million for a couple. This means that substantial number of estates that would owe nothing under the current system would be facing an estate tax obligation of between 45 and 65%. This could have dramatic impact on the considerable number of people with estates between $7 and $10.9 million, including small business owners and farmers. For these people, it would become essential to explore avenues for reducing the size of their taxable estates. These techniques can include trust planning options like Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Qualified Personal Residence Trusts, Charitable Trusts and Grantor Retained Trusts. It may also involve establishing limited liability companies (LLCs) and/or Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs). 

Regardless of which candidate becomes president, the election reminds us that laws, including the laws impacting estate planning, can change, sometimes dramatically. Getting a periodic estate plan "checkup" can help you secure the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your plan is best equipped to deal with whatever the changed legal landscape looks like.

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. 

This article written and published by:
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
@assuranceplan
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Monday, February 27, 2017

Esate Planning Laws | Enactment of New Laws Reminds Us of the Importance of Estate Plan Reviews


Summary: Estate planning-related court cases can teach a lot about what are good ideas, and bad ideas, in planning one's estate. They can remind us, as one recent case did, of the substantial and often needless risks involved in adding co-owners to your assets for the purpose of convenience or probate avoidance, as well as educating us that, if your estate planning goals change, it is vital to get your plan updated to reflect those new objectives.

Real-life estate planning scenarios spelled out in the pages of court decisions can provide valuable insight into planning techniques, including what worked... and what didn't. Take for example, a case from Michigan from late summer. A father, who had four children (three sons and a daughter) executed an estate plan in 2002. His will stated that his assets should be distributed evenly between his four children.

The father's assets including several bank accounts, including one with Bank of America with a substantial balance, as it contained the proceeds of the 2006 sale of the father's house. The bank account listed the father as a co-owner of the account. The other co-owner was his son, Mel. Mel considered his status on the account to be one of mere convenience for his father. Mel only used his status to manage the account, and never utilized any of the money in the account for his own benefit. Sometime later, though, Mel's sister, Mary, was added as another co-owner. Mary did use the money for her own needs, taking it for both herself and her daughter. According to the daughter, her father had given her oral approval to use the money for her own benefit, once telling her that she did not need to ask permission, but simply to take the money, as he planned on disinheriting his sons upon his death, anyway. 

After the father died, Mel, as his father's executor, sued Mary on behalf of the father's estate. Mary was accused of improperly taking funds that belonged to the father and using them for her own gain. Mary asked the trial court to throw out the lawsuit, arguing that, because she was listed as a co-owner of the account, there was a legal presumption that she was allowed to use the money on herself and the estate had not submitted enough evidence to the court to prove that she acted wrongfully. The trial court ruled in her favor. The estate took the case to the court of appeals, and that court reversed the lower court's ruling. That court ruled that there was no legal presumption in favor of the daughter and that the estate had presented enough evidence to the trial court to raise the possibility that the father never meant for the bank account funds to be used for the benefit of anyone other than himself during his lifetime.

Regardless of whether the daughter acted legally or not, the father's plan offers a clear example of a plan gone awry. This was, in no small part, the result of multiple mistakes. If the father wanted the bank account money used only for his benefit during his lifetime, but wanted some of his children to have certain abilities regarding the account, there were better tools available to him. For one, he could have created a financial power of attorney and included the management of the bank account in the powers assigned to his agent. Alternately, he could have funded the bank account into a trust, and given one or more children authority as trustees to manage the trust. In either situation, the father would have had the protection that comes with the fact that both an agent under a power of attorney and a trustee of a trust has what's called a "fiduciary duty" to handle the assets they manage in a proper way. 

Simply naming another person as a co-owner of a bank account, much like simply "adding" someone to the deed of your home in order to avoid probate, creates some significant and arguably needless risk. A co-owner of an asset often has wide freedom in making decisions regarding that asset. Furthermore, this plan potentially exposes this asset to claims made by creditors of the person you've added to the account.

Additionally, the father's estate plan may have been out-of-date and needed an update. If the father sincerely had a goal to distribute all (or even a larger-than-one-quarter portion) of his wealth to his daughter, then his 2002 will would not have accomplished this objective. A new or amended will would have allowed him to change the distribution pattern of his estate, updated to reflect his current wishes regarding the amount that each child should get.       

Regardless of what your goals are, potential pitfalls exist when you try to use the wrong the wrong technique to achieve an objective. By working with experienced estate planning professionals, you can protect yourself from falling victim to choosing the wrong tool for the job at hand.

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. 

This article written and published by:
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
@assuranceplan
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Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Estate Planning Laws | Enactment of New Law Reminds Us of the Importance of Estate Plan Reviews

Summary: Very little in life is unchanging. The relationships in our lives change through death, birth, marriage and divorce, among other things. The laws change through the passage and enactment of new bills. Whether it is a new law or a life-event change, it can have an impact on your estate plan. With periodic estate plan reviews, you can gain the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing that your plan remains optimized to function at its best possible level, even after taking into account all of the changes in the law and your life that have taken place. 

Back in late May 2016, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed a bill into law. The signing probably was not headlines news, even in that state. But, for Minnesota pet owners, it was welcome news. With the governor's signature, Minnesota became the 50th and final state to recognize the legal validity of pet or animal trusts. Pet or animal trusts work similarly to most every other kind of trust. They allow an animal owner, whether the beneficiary is your pampered poodle or a working animal like a horse, to establish the trust agreement with that animal (or animals) as the beneficiary. The trust creator then names a trustee who manages the trust assets and the income from those assets for the benefit of that named beneficiary. With this kind of estate planning, you can ensure, not only that your animal will go to a loving home, but that the animal will have the financial resources he or she needs. 

Transfer on death deeds are a useful tool for some people who may desire to avoid probate but whose circumstances may dictate that a revocable living trust isn't right for them. These deeds work like the death beneficiary designations on your life insurance or other financial accounts. With proof of a valid transfer on death deed, along with evidence that you're the beneficiary and the previous owner has died, you can take immediate ownership of a piece of real property without requiring a probate process. More than half of the 50 states recognize these deeds. Missouri has had them since 1989. California, however, passed a new law and began recognizing them in 2016.

What do these sets of facts have in common? They are both reminders that the laws governing estate planning are not etched in stone. They change with some frequency. Some of the changes may be very minor. Others, like the creation of a new type of trust or new type of real estate deed, can be major. Regardless of whether a change created by a new law is minute or large-scale, any change can have an impact on your plan. 

A few years ago, Indiana law created a legally enforceable "Funeral Planning Directive." If you lived in Indiana and decisions like place of burial or cremation-versus-interment mattered to you, this change would be enormous to you. If, however, you had already created your Indiana estate plan before the new law passed and you thought that your were all finished with your estate planning, you might have had the potential of missing out on the benefits of this change in the law. The same is true if you, as a pet owner, had already created your Minnesota estate plan before May 2016 and ceased doing anything with your plan after you signed it.

A popular modern social media acronym is "FOMO," which is short for "fear of missing out." As someone with an estate plan, you should have FOMO -- fear of missing out on the benefits of potentially helpful changes in the law, or fear of missing out on having an optimized estate plan because you did not update your plan to account for shifts in the law or changes in your personal life. With periodic estate plan reviews, you need not have this fear, however. A routine estate plan review can help you identify life-event changes, such as marriages, divorces, deaths or births, which may indicate a need for an amendment to your plan. Reviews may also allow your estate planning team to notify you that a law has changed, and give you the opportunity to discuss with your estate planning attorney how these changes may impact your plan.

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. 

This article written and published by:
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
@assuranceplan
#legacyassuranceplan


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Friday, January 27, 2017

Revocable Living Trusts | How Your Living Trust Can Help Your Loved Ones 'Enjoy the Little Things'


Summary: Estate planning involves dealing with a variety of things. While you may associate the financial side of your estate planning with distributing large assets like your home, car or financial accounts, sometimes assets with much smaller dollar-values may mean the most to your loved ones. With proper and complete estate planning, you can ensure that your wishes and preferences about the distribution of your assets, both great and small, are known and can be followed.

When people think about estate planning, they often think first about the distribution of their assets. And, often, when they think about the distribution of their assets, they think first about the "big-ticket" items, like houses, vehicles, financial accounts, and so forth. However, sometimes those are not the assets that matter most to loved ones. Sometimes it is things with lesser amounts of dollar-value that may mean the most, and can generate the most happiness, or hostility, among your loved ones. That's why, when you create your estate plan, it is very important to ensure that, not only have you planned for the assets that have high dollar values, but also for those things that have high sentimental value.

The things that may matter to your loved one could be extremely varied and, sometimes, surprising. This aspect of estate planning can be a great way to begin a conversation about estate planning with your loved ones. As you prepare to create your estate plan, your children or other loved ones may be uncomfortable thinking about serving as your health care proxy, but might be more willing to discuss with you the tangible personal items that have always given them that "warm and fuzzy" feeling. 

This has a two-fold benefit: it gives you an opening to begin the conversation you need to have with your loved ones about your goals and objectives in terms of your estate planning, and it also gives you an opportunity, potentially, to discover things you did not know. Maybe you never knew how much your old rocking chair meant to your daughter. Or what a strong affinity your son had for that vintage-but-rusty toy fire truck you kept in the basement. If you have multiple loved ones who all cherish the same item, this conversation may give you the chance to take these "popular" items and reach an compromise agreeable to all regarding who gets what. By having this conversation, you can learn these things and be more prepared to complete your estate plan in full.

Once you're armed with this factual information, what should you do with it? If you have an estate plan with a revocable living trust, it may seem challenging to ensure that your tangible personal effects get to the destinations you want. After all, you may wonder... how you fund a bunch of Beanie Baby dolls into your trust? Fortunately, your trust has a way for you to ensure the correct destination for these personal effects. You can create what's called a "schedule," which is included as part of your trust agreement document. For many people, when they establish a revocable living trust, this schedule will be called "Schedule A." Regardless of what you name the schedule, it is the place where you can list assets that do not have deeds or titles or other written documents establishing ownership. Your Schedule A can include everything from your furniture to your china, crystal and silverware to antique toys to your baseball card collection. Depending on the type of asset you've listed in Schedule A, you may also want to write up a "Bill of Sale" from you to your trust. Your attorney can help you decide which assets, if any, require this step.  

A character from a popular 2009 zombie movie created several life rules that he passed on to viewers, including one that recommended to "enjoy the little things." In real life, sometimes it is the littlest things that create the biggest enjoyment. With a carefully thought out and complete estate plan, you can ensure that your goals will be achieved to the biggest extent possible.

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. 

This article written and published by:
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
@assuranceplan
#legacyassuranceplan


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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Revocable Living Trusts | Using a Trust to Ensure You Have a Lasting Legacy



Summary: Including trusts in your estate plan can have many types of benefits. A revocable living trust may help you avoid the potential delays, expenses and stress that can arise from going through the probate administration process It can also be an invaluable tool in planning to protect yourself in the event that you become mentally incapacitated. Furthermore, your trust planning may help you create a more lasting legacy than you might otherwise enjoy with a will, as your trust may allow you control what happens to your wealth even after your initial beneficiaries have died.

If you are familiar with revocable living trusts, you likely know that they can help you avoid some of the potential drawbacks of probate administration. Depending on the laws and rules in your state of residence, probate can be time-consuming, expensive, stressful and largely devoid of privacy. Depending on the specifics of your situation, the benefits of avoiding these potential pitfalls, along with a trust's potential protective advantages when it comes to planning for mental incapacity, can be substantial.

What you may or may not know, however, is how your trust(s) can help you ensure that the legacy you leave behind is as durable and lasting as you'd want. Some celebrity estates from history offer useful examples. Before her death in 1962, Marilyn Monroe created an estate plan. Her will left most of her wealth to hear acting coach, Lee Strasberg. Beyond the business relationship, Monroe had a very close emotional and personal bond with both Strasberg and his second wife, Paula. Monroe's will requested that her acting coach distribute her belongings, "in his sole discretion, among my friends, colleagues and those to whom I am devoted." This, of course, meant that he had full and complete control over the belongings and they were part of his estate.

The acting coach died in 1982, 16 years after his wife, Paula, passed. Several years before his death, Strasberg married his third wife, Anna. Anna, who was 13 years younger than Monroe, never knew the famous actress but, after Anna's husband's death, the entirety of Monroe's possessions belonged to her. Susan Strasberg, who was the daughter of Lee and Paula, and a close personal friend of Monroe, received nothing. 

At this point, perhaps you're saying, "I don't plan to leave my wealth to my acting coach, so I don't really need this type of planning." That may not necessarily be true. Here's an example of how your goals can be thwarted, even if they are fairly straightforward and clearly stated in a will. Imagine a couple, John Doe and Carol Doe, who have three daughters. John and Carol each have wills that say, "100% of my estate to my spouse and, if my spouse has died, then all to my three daughters." John dies unexpectedly. Carol remarries a man named Mike who has three sons but, shortly thereafter, Carol dies. Her will says that her three daughters get 100% of her wealth (which includes the entirety of John's estate.) However, state law gives a surviving spouse the right to "elect against the will," which means that the surviving spouse can choose either the amount listed in the dead spouse's will or an amount spelled out in the state statutes. In some states, that's 50% of the dead spouse's probate estate. In other words, Mike could elect to take his spousal share, collect 50% of Carol's wealth and then transfer those assets to his sons, and it would all be perfectly legal. John would have, however indirectly and unintentionally, ended up leaving his daughters nothing and an inheritance of 50% to three people he did not even know (Mike's sons).

An estate plan with a trust (or trusts) could have created a different outcome for both fictional John and real-life Marilyn. So, how does it work? A trust will  include provisions that direct what will happen to the assets funded into it, in terms of distribution, and when those distributions should take place. You have the option of directing your successor trustee to make a full distribution of your wealth and closing the trust upon your death, or you can create instructions that will allow the trust to continue functioning. You may direct that an initial beneficiary can enjoy the trust's assets during his/her lifetime and then, after he/she dies, you can direct who should receive the wealth after that. In this way, you can minimize the chance of your wealth ending up belonging to complete strangers.

Engaging in this type of planning, as with any variety of planning, can trigger certain legal or tax implications. That's why, as with any type of estate plan, it is important to work an experienced professional who can carefully advise you of the benefits and drawbacks of each option available to you.

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. 

This article written and published by:
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
@assuranceplan
#legacyassuranceplan


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Friday, January 20, 2017

Estate Planning Mistakes | Planning to Ensure That Your Wishes Are Carried Out



Summary: In all areas of life, mistakes happen. A recent estate planning dispute in Michigan exemplifies this, as an overlooked property deed triggered a dispute that required a trial court and an appeals court to resolve. While your plan hopefully involves less complication and less litigation, the case is a useful reminder of the importance of engaging in comprehensive planning, which will contain safeguards to protect you even if you make mistakes in the estate planning process.

As part of their 1998 estate plan, Michigan couple Larry and Joy Hutchinson created a revocable living trust. Like many living trusts, the couple were the original trustees, and the trust's assets were to be for the benefit of the couple during their lives, then the survivor of the two after the first death. After both had died, the husband's three daughters (from another relationship) received what remained. 

Several years later, the husband's daughters discovered the trust's existence and launched a lawsuit accusing their stepmother of mismanaging the trust's assets. The two sides settled the case and, as part of that settlement, the wife was required to sell the family farm and another property, and the three children were to receive certain proceeds from those sales. The wife complied, selling both properties. 

What the children discovered after their stepmother's death, however, was that not all of the property rights had been sold. With regard to the farm, the legal rights to the surface had been sold, but no sale had ever been transacted regarding the farm's oil, gas and mineral rights, which were held under a separate deed. Upon making this discovery, the children asked a judge to distribute the mineral rights to them. The wife's executor opposed this request, arguing that the mineral rights should be considered a part of her probate estate.   

The dispute ultimately made its way through the court system, with both the trial court and the appeals court concluding that, because the settlement agreement made no explicit mention of the farm's mineral rights, then the agreement had impact on those mineral rights. That meant that the mineral rights remained the property of the trust and, according to the trusts's terms, should be distributed to the children under the provisions stated in the trust. 

While you may not own any real estate that also involves mineral rights, and hopefully your estate plan will not involve any instances of mismanagement of trust assets, there is still a lesson for many people in this case. Namely, the complicated process involved in resolving this couple's estate plan is a reminder of the high importance of a complete estate plan and regular estate plan reviews. This prolonged litigation erupted because the family farm's mineral rights were simply overlooked until after the wife's death.  Even if it is not mineral rights, there is always the possibility that, despite your best efforts, you may overlook or forget an asset (or assets) when you set out to fund the living trust in your estate plan. 

A complete estate plan will help you be prepared in any scenario. If you have a living trust, your complete estate plan will also have a "pour-over" will, which will protect you against forgotten assets. Your pour-over will will take assets left out of your trust and transfer them into your trust, where they, like the rest of your wealth, can be distributed according to the terms in your trust. Also, this is a reminder of the benefit of estate plan "check-up". A check-up can be an excellent time to review everything involved with the carrying out of your estate planning goals. Anyone can potentially forget to fund an asset. A check-up is just one more opportunity to look at your plan and potentially identify and correct such an oversight.

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. 

This article written and published by:
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
@assuranceplan
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Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Get The Most Out of Your Estate Plan | Engage in Lots of Communication

Summary: Your estate plan will reflect some of the most intensely personal decisions you will ever make. However, the "final product" that goes does on paper in your documents is often one born of an in-depth interactive process, possibly involving many people, including you, your estate planning attorney and your loved ones (especially those designated to make decisions on your behalf.) As with any process like this, one of the main keys to achieving optimal success is communication, in order to ensure everyone is "on the same page" and that your true wishes will be carried out when the time comes.   

When you decide to begin the process of planning your estate, there are lots of decisions you'll have to make. For many people, among the first to leap to mind are decisions about the distribution of their wealth. While these decisions are extremely important, there are many more choices that have to be made in establishing a complete estate plan. Sometimes, some of the most difficult choices to make involve planning for your incapacity and end-of-life care.

Whether you are making financial decisions or personal ones, it is extremely important to communicate freely and fully with your estate planning attorney. Your attorney will, in the course of the estate planning process, be seeking to combine his/her knowledge of the law with the factual information you provide in order to put them together and make recommendations about what kind of plan works best for you. The only way your attorney can provide you with the best service is if you are candid and forthcoming. Holding information back will only impair your attorney's ability to give you a plan that best reflects your goals. Say, for example, that you have a deep and profound aversion to the idea of living while in a permanent vegetative state. It is important that you share information like this with your attorney, even if you know that your loved ones might disapprove.
Speaking of those loved ones, it is vital that you communicate your personal medical and healthcare decision making perspectives with them, too. If you are selecting one (or more) of your loved ones to serve as your agent (also sometimes called a "proxy"), then you should be sure to communicate carefully with those loved ones. If order for them to do the best possible job as your agent, and being a voice for what you want done, it is essential that they know exactly what you want and why you made the choices you did. By completely understanding your goals and the reasons for them, your loved ones can more effectively carry out your objectives. You should also communicate with those loved ones who will not be serving as your agent in any decision making capacity. Sometimes, one of the biggest enemies of a successful estate plan is surprise on the part of a relative or other loved one. Surprises can often trigger emotional responses that can lead to long-term family strife or even litigation challenging your wishes. Short-circuit that possibility by making sure none of your loved ones are surprised about your goals.   

For many families, this communication can be difficult. While it is often challenging to face one's own mortality, it can often be even more painful to face the mortality of a loved one, so this conversation maybe more challenging for your loved ones than for you. Nevertheless, it is a necessary one to have. (Your attorney probably won't mind if you use him/her as an excuse if you need to tell your loved ones, "I don't enjoy this either, but my lawyer says I need to talk to you about this without procrastinating.") However you go about it, do whatever it takes to have this discussion. 

Finally, but perhaps most importantly, you need to communicate with yourself. This is something you'll do before communicating with anyone else. Decide which things matter to you... and which don't. At what threshold would you want to discontinue medical treatment designed to extend your life... when you stop recognizing your loved ones? When you can no longer get around independently? When you're in severe pain all the time? For each person, the answers to these questions are different. It is important to get a clear handle on your own preferences first and then move forward with planning.  

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. 

This article written and published by:
8039 Cooper Creek Blvd
University Park, Florida 34201
844.306.5272 (Phone)
@assuranceplan
#legacyassuranceplan


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