Estate Planning Documents
INFORMATION ABOUT ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS
1) WILL: Your Will transfers property and assets owned by you
individually. It Does Not transfer property or assets that you own Jointly with someone else, such as a deed on which you are a joint tenant, or a bank account or stocks where someone else is also listed as a joint owner. (Where you are listed as a "Tenant in Common", your Will transfers your share of ownership in that asset). Also, when you have a bank account, savings bonds, Pension Plan, Individual Retirement Account or Life Insurance where someone is listed as the beneficiary, that asset passes under the beneficiary designation, and not under the Will.
2) LIVING WILL / HEALTH CARE PROXY: This is a document that is used if you ever get to the point when you are unable to make health care decisions for yourself. Should that time ever come, a Living Will/Health Care Proxy names someone to make your health care decisions for you, including the decision to stop any further treatment, if you are never going to be able to recover the use of your mind (You are in a permanent coma or have irreversible brain damage) or if you are Terminally Sick and have no chance of recovery. It says that if you get to that point, you want medical Treatment To Stop, except that you want MAXIMUM PAIN RELIEF. The document also clearly says that if medical treatment will help you recover, you want to be treated. This document must be signed by you while you are still competent.
3) POWER Of ATTORNEY: This is a very powerful document. Someone with your Power Of Attorney can do anything you can do with your money, stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets (unless you limit their authority). A Power Of Attorney should only be signed after you have given the idea careful thought. However, there are times when a Power Of Attorney is a very useful document, such as when you don't have a spouse who is able to take care of your bills and other affairs when you are not up to the task. Generally, an older person in failing health should ALWAYS have a Power of Attorney, and an unmarried person of any age is wise to have a limited power of attorney, unless they have joint bank accounts with someone else who can handle their financial affairs for them. The use of Trusts may also be appropriate to help a person manage their affairs if there is a reasonable possibility that they may become unable to handle their own affairs in the foreseeable future. There are many other uses of Trusts that are not discussed here.
This information is intended as educational information and as a
guideline, and not as legal advice. BEFORE YOU CHANGE
ANYTHING IN YOUR ESTATE PLAN BASED UPON
WHAT YOU ARE READING HERE, CALL TO MAKE
SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THINGS CORRECTLY. All of
the documents discussed involve complex legal issues that
cannot possibly be fully explained in these few words. All
such documents must also be customized to particular
circumstances.
