Advance Planning–
Being prepared for the future,
Know the advantages.
Along with your Last Will & Testament, there are several other basic estate documents you should consider:
Powers of Attorney
- Establishing a power of attorney is inexpensive.
- You can decide who should make decisions on your behalf if you are unable.
- You control whether your agent has general or specific power.
- The document can require the agent to become bonded or to give an account of his or her transactions.
Living Will
- Provides you with the authority to reject medical treatment.
- Provides your family and health care professionals a clear description about the types of treatments you wish to have.
- Prevents arguments among family members.
- Prevents your family from going through the strain and difficulty to decide to keep you on life support or not.
Non-probate transfers
- Avoids expense of probate.
- Avoids delay of probate.
- You can change beneficiaries or revoke transfers at any time, retaining full control of the property throughout your lifetime.
- No risk to you or co-owners.
The above documents are all wonderful tools. However, they may not be enough for your situation:
- your estate may be very large
- your family may be very complicated
- you may desire additional control after you pass
Regardless, proper estate planning documents may be drafted to meet your needs.