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How to Map Your Family’s Future
| How-To-Tips |
1. Map out the basic things you wish to achieve; e.g., who gets your money and when.
2. Find an experienced professional estate planner
3. Gather your financial information
4. Review the plan with your professional estate planner. Ask questions
5. Enjoy peace of mind that you have made things much easier for your family. |
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We’ve all heard the horror stories: people losing their homes when they go into a nursing home, one troublesome child bleeding mom and dad dry financially. Probate costs reducing the amount people can leave their loved ones.
It is possible to avoid these pitfalls and keep control if your plan ahead of time.
First – You need a map
The very first step is to figure out what you want to achieve. Do you want your eldest child or your long lost cousin to handle your money if you become incapacitated? Who can make the decision you would prefer in medical situations if you cannot choose for yourself? How much, when and how do you want your money to be distributed when you pass away? These are just a few of the questions that an estate attorney will ask you in helping you plan your future.
Second – You need a professional guide
You wouldn’t start a thousand mile journey through uncharted territory without a guide. Choose your estate planning attorney carefully. Experience is key. Also make sure that the experience includes planning, not just for death but also for disability or incapacity. That should include a plan for paying for nursing home care without going broke first or providing for medical decisions to be made by the family members and friends you trust most.
Third – You need to gather your information
Your estate planner will assist you in making decisions about the design of your estate and disability plan. Expect your estate planner to ask questions about your family:
• Are you taking care of elderly parents?
• Do you have young children?
• Do your adult children need special care?
• Do you wish to make provisions for your grandchildren?
• Is your spouse needing to go to a nursing home?
An estate planner will also need to know what assets you have and how they are held, as well as any problems you are looking to an estate and disability plan to solve.
Take any inventory of everything you own and assign a dollar amount. The following list will get you started:
• Residence
• Other real estate
• Savings (bank accounts, CDs, money markets)
• Investments (stocks, bonds and mutual funds)
• Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s, pensions)
• Life insurance policies
Fourth – Review the plan
Your estate planner will take time to explain the various documents you will need in order to achieve your goals. Ask questions to make certain you understand and realize that you won’t remember everything.—except the peace of mind that comes from having planned for most contingencies.
Don’t fall into the “do-it-yourself- trap
Some people think that they can do an estate and disability plan from and internet or an “off-the-shelf” software program. This can be risky. You could follow the directions and find out later that it doesn’t work correctly, because the law in your home state is different from the one use by the programmer, possibly not even an attorney. Laws vary from state to state, and plans must take into consideration whether you have children, grandchildren or parents to care for.
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