A few moves could have saved the loved ones of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman a lot of money. Even if you don’t have a $35 million estate, like Hoffman’s, there are some things you could learn from it…
Read more at http://ift.tt/2xaQFtM
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Do You Believe That Estate Planning Only Applies to End of Life Events?Nothing could be further from the truth!
Estate planning covers any unforeseen incidents during your lifetime as well as preparing.
The combination of a Durable Power of Attorney; Power of Attorney for Healthcare; and Living Revocable Trust makes sure your assets are there and working for you in case you are incapacitated (car wreck) for any length of time.
Not legally. If you don’t have a Durable Power of Attorney, your spouse may end up in court seeking a guardianship. Guardianships cost many times what a Durable Power of Attorney costs.
Guardianships are limited in power and require return trips to Court for many things.
Not legally. If you don’t have a Durable Power of Attorney, your children may end up in court seeking a guardianship. Guardianships cost many times what a Durable Power of Attorney costs.
And, your children may end up fighting over who should be your guardian, adding to the time and cost.
No. A Will is totally ineffective until passing, and, therefore, does nothing to help you through incapacity and disability. Your family or friends may have to go to Court to start costly guardianship or conservatorship proceedings.
A Will is not enough. A Will does nothing for you during your lifetime. A Will is basically a letter to the court and your heirs detailing how to divide up your property.
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Wills ♦ Trusts ♦ Financial, Legal, and Healthcare Powers of Attorney
♦ Revocable Living Trusts
♦ Probate Avoidance ♦ Healthcare Powers of Attorney
♦ Probate and Estate Administration
♦ Special Needs Planning ♦ Special Needs Trusts
♦ Medicaid Planning and Applications ♦ Long Term Care Planning and Selection
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Summary
Life is uncertain. Accidents happen. Unplanned events occur. Health can go from good to bad in a heartbeat.
Families are greatly affected and impacted every day, but you can pick if that impact will be positive or negative. When you get your affairs in order, not only are you putting steps in place to ensure the well-being of your loved ones but you are also shaping your legacy in a meaningful way.
Design your plan to positively impact those who love and need you so that even IF there were a situation where you can no longer financially or emotional support others, you can still maintain control over your own legacy.
You should prepare not only for when you pass on, but also for incapacity. At some point in time you could suffer from injury, have a medical incident, dementia, or some other form of incapacity. Without your plan in place, this incident may leave you helpless, at the mercy of people and institutions that don’t know you or know what you want. (Adult Protective Services…)
The chances of you becoming unable to make your own decisions, that is becoming incapacitated, at some point in your life is high.
Even being in a “simple” car accident can leave you unable to make legal decisions for months, until you are off the painkillers. Not to mention what could happen if you hit your head.
You get peace of mind about what will happen during these times by having your legally enforceable plan in place. Make decisions now and pick who will make your decisions later. Know that you have picked a strong person you trust to make decisions in times that you can’t, or don’t want to, make decisions.
While nobody can predict the future, you can make sure your future decisions will be made by somebody you trust and that can carry out your wishes.
You create your crystal clear, legally enforceable instructions to your “attorney-in-fact” about who is in charge and the decisions they can make. You can even spell out specific decisions.
You can create clear, legally enforceable instructions about what will happen to your assets now and later that give you peace of mind before something happens.
During already tough times, why force your family to make difficult decisions?
With your plan, you can ease the burden on your loved ones in difficult times and make a positive impact.
Without your plan, your family could be in Court for years fighting over what is left. Your family could be in Court for years fighting over your healthcare if you don’t leave them clear, legally binding instructions.
Without your plan, the State has already decided who gets how much and when they get it. You can plan to skip the Courts and get your family the money they may desperately need as quickly as possible, without a Judge standing between them and the money and other property. And, the Court route is expensive in time and money.
Without your plan, your family may have to make tough decisions under very difficult circumstances, at a time when they really need your wisdom, even if it is only in writing.
If you have minor children, they could end up in foster care, even for one night. On the worst day of their lives, do you want them to have to go with Child Protective Services, even if it is just overnight?
You can take steps to make sure your family knows what you want and how you would make your decisions.
You can take steps to protect your minor children.
If you have children with credit problems, or creditors hounding them, your plan can protect the money from their creditors and help them get back on their feet.
With younger children (under 30) you can hold the bulk of the money back so they can mature and learn to manage money before getting a large lump sum.
If you have children with drug, alcohol, or gambling issues, you can hold the money for when they recover from their addiction. In the meantime, you can make sure they have a place to live and the bills are paid, without giving them the money directly.
You can plan to make sure your family gets what they need, when they need it, how you want them to have it instead of the Laws and Judge.
If you don’t have a crystal clear, legally enforceable plan, you risk somebody (perhaps somebody you wouldn’t approve of) going to court and “ripping your rights away.” That person gets to take over making your decisions. The courts basically rip away your right to make your own decisions and give them to somebody else. And, there are many decisions that must be made under future court supervision. Not to mention the annual reports due to the court. All of this comes at an emotional and financial cost. And the cost to your dignity may be high.
Everything involved with this process becomes part of the public record. You not only get your rights “ripped away,” you lose your privacy too.
If you don’t have a Last Will and Testament, or just a Last Will and Testament, your family will probably end up in court to wrap up your final affairs. Your assets will be passed out under the supervision of an impersonal Judge who must follow the law and the mandates of your Will (if you have one). If the law and your Will conflict, the Judge gets the final decision about your personal desires.
You have ways to protect your privacy from public scrutiny! You can defend your dignity!
You can use your plan to leave a legacy and a final message to your children and loved ones. Perhaps even a short video.
With your plan, you can even leave a legacy of what is important to you. You can continue to teach your children.
If charity and giving are important to you, use your plan to leave money to those charities. Show your children how important giving is.
If you have special people in your life outside of your immediate family, you can leave them a small gift as a remembrance. It means more than you think.
You leave a legacy of love with your plan.
Life is uncertain. Accidents happen. Unplanned events occur. Health can go from good to bad quickly.
Your family is depending on you to care for them, even if you can’t be there.
For more information on how your plan can take care of you and your family:
Give us a call at (479)717-6300
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Click here to get the book Secrets of Excellent Estate Planning.
Prefer getting your book by mail? Click Here.
If you would like to talk to us, then give us a call. (479)717-6300.
If you are ready to create your plan, then we will sit down with you for a complementary initial planning session. (479)717-6300.
Provided as an educational service by Gary DeWitt, Attorney at Law. If you have questions or comments in the areas of Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Medicaid, Medicaid planning, or Probate feel free to contact Gary.
Providing Services Including
Wills ♦ Trusts ♦ Financial, Legal, and Healthcare Powers of Attorney
♦ Revocable Living Trusts
♦ Probate Avoidance ♦ Healthcare Powers of Attorney
♦ Probate and Estate Administration
♦ Special Needs Planning ♦ Special Needs Trusts
♦ Medicaid Planning and Applications ♦ Long Term Care Planning and Selection
The post 4 Reasons Why a Plan Will Change Your Life appeared first on .
A Will alone will not stop probate.
A – Avoid Probate
B – Be in Control
C – Call Now
Call (479)717-6300 now or visit www.DeWitt.law now to setup your Complimentary Initial Session to see which plan is right for you.
Probate is done in a court of law! Probate’s purpose is to transfer property to those named in the Will or to the next generation.
Probate is costly! It’s time-consuming! It’s challenging! It’s public! It’s emotional!
Your loved ones may be fighting for years in court for what you wanted them to have.
With the proper tools and documents in place, you and your loved ones can avoid Probate. You can stop your loved ones from having to deal with emotionally painful problem after painful problem.
You stay in control of your money and decisions even if you become incapacitated.
With proactive planning, you leave your loved ones a true legacy.
Without planning you lose the opportunity to protect your family from an impersonal, complex, governmental process that can become a nightmare.
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I was reading the article Estate Planning Before Tragedy Strikes (http://ift.tt/2wNvmzy) and found this quote to be of particular importance to families and their children. (bold added)
Before looking into the law, like many young parents, I assumed that my wishes for my 4-year-old would be carried out by my family in the event anything happened to me and my husband. Without a legal document, however, my wishes mean nothing. Were we to die without a will, the court would decide which family member would care for my daughter based on her “best interests.” How would the court know what these interests are? What if my family and my husband’s family disagree on where she should be?
Similarly, any assets we had would be handled by the state. Poor estate planning on superstar Prince’s part recently illustrated how dying “intestate,” or without a will, can affect your family for years to come.
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The consequences of not planning can be expensive financially, emotionally, and personally.
So many people avoid estate planning for one reason or another.
Before you decide against planning or to delay planning, you need to understand the consequences of not having a plan …
At the times when you are not able to make your own decisions a Judge, who probably doesn’t know you, can decide who makes your decisions.
Your spouse does not get to just take over your personal, legal, and financial affairs.
If, when, you become incapacitated, a Judge that probably does not know you or is familiar with your circumstances makes the decisions. The Judge decides who will manage your legal, financial, medical, and personal affairs.
This process, known as guardianship, is expensive on your family in money, time, and emotions. Family often fights over who should be in charge, leading to more money and time being spent.
Even if everybody agrees, the expense could easily be more than the cost of creating a proper estate plan in the first place.
In short, a Judge will rip your rights away and give them to somebody else to manage.
Intestacy basically means without a Last Will and Testament.
If you don’t have a plan for your assets, that is you are intestate, the State will take over.
In fact, the State of Arkansas already has a plan for your assets. That plan is called “intestacy.” In Intestacy, the State has already decided who gets what, how much, and when.
Intestacy takes place in Probate Court before a Judge who probably doesn’t know you or your situation.
Your spouse does not automatically get everything!
When you are intestate, that is without a Last Will and Testament, the State has already decided who gets how much.
Your spouse is only entitled to 1/3rd of the money and 1/3rd of the real estate. Worse, your spouse doesn’t get the 1/3rd of the real estate outright, but in what is called a “life estate.” The life estate means they can live there and have to maintain the home, but can’t sell it without permission of all of the other heirs (your children).
Your children get the other 2/3rds outright.
And, the process will take 3 months to years to finish. During that time, the money is not available to people who may desperately need it.
Conservatively, a guardianship costs $1,500 without including fees and expenses.
Intestate proceedings are around $4,000 without fees and expenses.
Expect this to get more expensive every year.
You’ve already spent $5,500 plus an unknown amount on fees and expenses.
$5,500 is almost double what a Trust based estate plan that avoids probate costs up front.
The other downside of a Last Will and Testament is that it must pay off your debts and final expenses. That is even more money spent. A Trust does not have to pay off your final debts. More money saved!
If you decide you want you and your family to avoid these expenses and hassles, then you need to take steps to avoid guardianships and probate. The best way to do that is to create an appropriate estate plan. An estate plan that protects you, your family, and your money.
The post The Consequences of Not Planning appeared first on .
Imagine there’s a pill that takes away your stress about the future and allows you to live life more freely. A pill that makes sure you and your family are taken care of. Your life is so much better because it’s so much easier to achieve your goals. A pill that provides other benefits such as:
There are no unwanted side effects. How many pills would you order?
While this pill doesn’t exist, estate planning provides the all the same benefits.
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