Posted on January 04, 2022 in Estate Planning

An estate plan isn’t just your will. You can add documents to protect yourself, not just to name a guardian for your children and to distribute property to the people you love if you die.

Powers of attorney are documents that could help in the event of some kind of emergency. If you are unable to speak on your own behalf, make decisions about your medical care or manage your financial circumstances, powers of attorney will give someone the authority to handle those matters for you.

A power of attorney could help if you experience incapacitation due to Alzheimer’s or cognitive decline as you age. It could also protect you if you get hurt at work or in a car crash. When do you need power of attorney? 

When you have needs that no one can legally meet

Many people, like college students, don’t realize that they need power of attorney. A 19-year-old student headed off to school will probably assume that their parents can help them in the event of an emergency.

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 Posted on October 11, 2021 in Estate Planning

You may already have a basic estate plan, and that’s great. It helps protect you and the people you care about if you’re injured or pass away.

That estate plan should be thought of as a living entity, though. Your life is always changing, and your wishes may change, too. As a result, it’s necessary to go back and look at your estate plan every so often to be sure that it’s still protecting you and your loved ones in the way that you want.

Reviewing your estate plan

There are some people who will tell you to review your plan annually or every few years. Others will suggest reviewing your estate plan only after major events.

The truth is that you should review your estate plan any time you:

• Have a major change in your life, such as the development of an illness or the birth of a new child in your family
• Are told there have been changes to the laws that may impact your estate plan
• Have a major change in your earnings

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 Posted on July 13, 2021 in Estate Planning

There are so many excuses people can invent to justify procrastinating about estate planning. Most people think that if they are getting ready to retire or don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal property that they don’t really need to estate plan.

However, there are many times in your life when having an estate plan is crucial for you and the people you love. Having a plan in place when you encounter any of the four situations below will do a lot to provide you peace of mind and protect your loved ones.

When you become a parent

Adding a new remember to your family through birth, marriage or adoption is an incredible experience. All of the joy of new parenthood also comes with the stress of parental obligations.

Your children will need a guardian if anything happens to you while they are still minors. They also will rely on you to leave some sort of legacy that can help them cover their living expenses and basic needs. Estate planning during pregnancy or after the birth of a child is very common.

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 Posted on April 13, 2021 in Estate Planning

For many people, trusts are synonymous with the incredibly wealthy. Many people overlook the potential benefits of integrating a trust to their estate plan because they assume that only someone with millions of dollars worth of assets needs a trust.

Trusts are actually powerful legal tools that can help people in everyday circumstances, including those planning their estate or those looking forward to the care they will need at the end of their life. What do people use trusts for?

People use trusts to have control over their legacy

People recognize a trust as a tool that helps people pass on their property to others and financially support their loved ones. Other people may use a trust to set aside resources for a charity.

Some people even use a trust to give property to the local government for the creation of a park or to a local university for a scholarship fund. If someone wants to leave a specific legacy behind, a trust can help by controlling the use of the assets used to fund it.

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 Posted on February 12, 2021 in Estate Planning

When you think about planning for the future, you may dream of going on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation or saving for retirement or college for your children. You may not consider how important it is to have an estate plan for your future too.

If you haven’t made an estate plan yet to plan for the future, you are not alone. Unfortunately, only 32% of Americans say they have a will or other estate planning documents, according to a 2020 Caring.com survey. Of those surveyed, a majority of people say they just haven’t made estate planning a priority, even though they know it’s important.

The importance of having an estate plan

Everyone can benefit from having an estate plan, not just those who are wealthy. With an estate plan, you give your family direction about your wishes. You get to choose who will receive your assets and your heirloom items in your will. You can name a guardian for your underage or special needs children and establish a trust to provide for them. You can direct that some of your assets go to your favorite charity. Without a will, Texas law will decide how to distribute your assets.

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