SC: Estate Planning

Estate planning involves the process of figuring out what assets you have, who is going to eventually get those assets, and how getting them will affect that person or persons. It also involves having a plan for a trusted person to manage your assets for you should you become incapacitated and unable to manage them yourself. For many people this can be a difficult decision, but one that is extremely important and needs to be addressed. Every person, family and situation is unique, and your estate plan should be customized to ensure that particular desires that are important to you as well as the needs of your loved ones are met.

Typically, an estate plans includes one or more of the following: a will or trust, durable power of attorney, health care power of attorney and a declaration of desire for natural death.

Questions to consider when designing an estate plan include:

• Who will handle my finances if I am in a serious accident or become incapacitated?
• Who will make health care decisions on my behalf if I am unable to make those myself?
• Are there particular health treatments that I feel strongly about and want to make my opinion known?
• How will my assets be divided upon my death?
• Who will care for my children if I die?
• Who will look after my children’s financial needs after my death?
• What sort of legacy do I want to leave?
• What sort of funeral or burial arrangements would I prefer?
• Do I want to die a natural death or require that my attending physicians do everything in their power to keep me alive?

It is important to speak to an experienced attorney who will help you figure out how best to accomplish your personal objectives and draw the documents necessary to see that your plan is implemented. Our attorneys at Touchstone Family Law will customize a comprehensive estate plan for you that gives you peace of mind.