Estate planning documents you need include financial power of attorney, advance healthcare directives, and your last will and testament. These documents can reduce stress for you and your family as you age and face health challenges.
It’s smart to consult with an experienced elder law attorney when creating your estate plan. Our estate planning lawyers in Marietta have helped hundreds of families with their legal challenges. Call today to schedule your free Legacy Planning Meeting.
Important Estate Planning Documents
Putting the right documents in place is an essential part of estate planning. Our legal team can help you understand what estate planning documents you need and devise a legally sound strategy.
Important documents include:
Financial Power of Attorney
Your financial power of attorney allows you to appoint an agent who can handle your financial matters if you can’t do so yourself. It’s important to ensure your power of attorney documents are durable, meaning they remain in effect if you are incapacitated.
Advance Healthcare Directive (Medical Power of Attorney)
A medical power of attorney lets you name an agent to handle your healthcare matters if you are injured or ill and can’t manage them yourself. In Georgia, the advance healthcare directive takes the place of your medical power of attorney.
Along with naming a healthcare agent to make decisions, it contains an additional section called a Living Will that outlines your wishes for life-sustaining treatments in different scenarios.
Last Will and Testament
Your will names your choice for the executor of your estate and includes instructions about what happens with your assets when you are gone. A well-drafted will can help avoid family conflicts and simplify the probate process.
Absolute Protection Trust™
Our Absolute Protection Trust™ offers advantages over standard irrevocable trusts. It provides the same asset protection with the added ability to make changes as your needs or situation evolve. Our personalized planning team will help you through the creation process.
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Additional Estate Planning ConcernsOnce your documents are in place, there are additional steps to consider to make sure your estate plan performs as you expect.
Consult With an Attorney
If you didn’t get legal help when creating your plan, it’s smart to speak with our team now. We can ensure your documents are accurate and assist you with any changes or updates that may arise over the coming years.
Update Your Beneficiaries
Review your beneficiaries on accounts such as your 401(k)s, IRAs, and life insurance policies, and make adjustments as needed. In some cases, you may not have addressed these accounts for many years.
Inventory Your Assets
Create a record of your assets and debts. This can assist the executor of your estate later on and help you understand if any additional planning or changes are necessary now.
Organize Important Documents
File your estate planning documents in a way that’s logical and easy for another person to navigate. Then, make sure your family knows where they are. This saves stress not only after your passing, but during events such as your sudden admission to a medical facility.
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Don’t Neglect Estate Planning
It’s easy to put off estate planning decisions for another day. However, having the estate planning documents you need in place can make a big difference when life throws you a curveball.
It’s also essential to consult an attorney who specializes in elder law. We can ensure your plan is effective and will stand up to legal scrutiny. Some of the consequences of neglecting estate planning include:
- Without powers of attorney in place, your family may need to petition the probate court for a guardianship and conservatorship. This is a lengthy and costly process, and the person you’d choose may not be selected.
- Without a will, your family must rely on Georgia’s intestacy laws to determine your asset distribution, which may not align with your wishes and can lead to lengthy legal battles.
- In the absence of a proper will or trust, your estate will need to go through a more lengthy and involved probate process. This can delay asset distribution, increase costs, and create administrative burdens for your family.
Get Help With Your Estate Planning
The estate planning documents you need allow you to make sure your wishes are known even when you can’t speak for yourself or after you have passed away. You can appoint agents to make financial and health care decisions for you, and name your choice as executor of your will.
Without these documents, your family may be left scrambling for answers if disaster strikes. Proper estate planning, guided by an experienced attorney, means your bases are covered no matter what happens next.
Our team at Nelson Elder Care Law has been here to help serve Georgia families and their families for more than a decade. Call today to schedule your Legacy Planning Meeting and begin the estate planning process.
