October is: National Estate Planning Awareness Month

It’s been on your to-do list for months and you keep putting it off. In honor of National Estate Planning Awareness Month, pick up the phone and make the call to set up an appointment with an attorney for drafting or updating your estate planning documents.  

Having a professionally drafted estate plan will protect you and your loved ones in the event of a tragedy. The Four (4) basic components of an estate plan include a healthcare surrogate and living will, a durable power of attorney, a last will and testament, and often a revocable trust.

1. Healthcare Surrogate and Living Will: In these documents, you will name the person(s) who will make medical decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. These documents will also direct whether you want to be placed on life support and receive other life prolonging procedures in specific circumstances. Without a healthcare surrogate or living will, it may require one of your loved ones to petition the court to become your guardian to make medical decisions for you.

• Durable Power of Attorney: In this document, you name the person who should make financial decisions for you in the event you are unable to. This person will have access to all of your assets, so it’s important to choose this individual wisely. Similar to the healthcare surrogate document, without this, a loved one may need to become your guardian to access your financial assets and manage them on your behalf in the event of incapacity. The guardianship process can be time consuming and expensive, especially if other family members contest it. Even worse, you may end up with a guardian that you dislike.

• Last Will and Testament: Often simply referred to as a “will”, this document lays out detailed instructions for how to distribute your estate and care for your minor children. It includes how your assets should be distributed, such as your bank accounts, investment accounts, real estate, vehicles, artwork, heirlooms, pets, and home. If you have minor children, it lists who should be their guardian, as well as back-up guardians in case your first choice is unwilling or unable to serve. However, a last will and testament may subject you to probate, which is the process in which a court transfers assets to your beneficiaries and can be time consuming and expensive, and may subject minor children to a minor guardianship proceeding.

• Revocable Trust: This is a legal entity that “owns” your assets during your lifetime while allowing you to remain fully in control of them. Having a trust gives you flexibility and protection for distributing your assets to your beneficiaries and can avoid the lengthy probate and minor guardianship processes. For example, a revocable trust lets you decide on the distribution schedule for your assets, so your children can receive them over time instead of as one lump sum. It also can protect them from certain creditors or from your child’s spouse in the event of a divorce.

If someone dies and does not have a will, they die “intestate.” When someone dies intestate, their assets enter the probate process and are distributed based on Florida law. These rules are likely to be different from how you would choose to distribute your assets.

This National Estate Planning Awareness Month, do yourself and your loved ones a favor by contacting Huth, Pratt & Milhauser, one of South Florida’s leading trust and estate law firms, to set up your estate planning documents.