Estate Planning
An estate plan directs what happens to your property upon your death. For parents of minor children, your estate plan can also nominate a guardian to care for your children and a trustee to manage your estate assets until your children are old enough to effectively manage them.
There are two options for estate planning: a will or a revocable living trust.
If you choose a will for your estate plan, you will nominate a personal representative (called an “executor” in other states) to probate your will after your death. A will becomes effective only upon your death. It does not serve as an incapacity planning device. Therefore, a power of attorney is often paired with a will to allow you to appoint a person to act on your behalf to manage your assets during your lifetime if you are unable to act on your own.
If you choose a revocable living trust, you will appoint a trustee to manage your assets in the event of your incapacity and to distribute the trust upon your death according to the terms of the trust. A revocable living trust serves as both an incapacity planning device and an estate planning device.
By working with an estate planning professional, you can get advice to help decide which estate planning options are right for you. Your attorney can also advise you about navigating potentially difficult conversations with your family. Your attorney can help you understand exactly what each document will do to best accomplish your individual goals. Your attorney will also ensure that all legal requirements are met to properly execute all of your documents. You get an estate plan that is customized to fit your family’s unique needs and values. Most clients comment at the end of the estate planning process that they were pleasantly surprised with how much value they got from the estate planning attorney.
Finally, an estate plan is one legal document that you can be certain will be used eventually. We create estate plans with the hope that they will not be needed while our children are young. But having a well thought out estate plan in place is a gift for the family we leave behind, no matter how far in the future the plan will be used.