Designed to deal with your affairs after death, an Estate Plan can also help prepare for incapacity. A thorough Estate Plan will name someone to take care of you and your assets if you become incapacitated. With the correct design, you can implement your plan in case of incapacity without the necessity of talking to doctors. Many of whom will not want to become involved in deciding if you have the capacity to sufficiently handle your financial affairs. You can create your own definition of incapacity through a well-designed Estate Plan.
The well-designed Estate Plan can be simple. If you have a Revocable Living Trust your affairs can be handled expeditiously. This allows your children to receive control of their assets sooner than if they must go through probate. Probate can become long, time-consuming, expensive, and complex; all the things of most people do not want.
A complete Estate Plan will have an Advanced Health Care Directive. This document allows you to decide many medical decisions before they arise. Including:
- how long you want life support
- how much pain medication you receive
- what to do if you have Alzheimer’s or dementia
- or other issues concerning long term diseases.
- decisions regarding blood transfusions
- organ donations
- autopsy
- and memorial and funeral instructions.
An Advanced Health Care Directive can contain all of this information. With a complete Estate Plan, you will give your family peace of mind because they know what your desires and wishes are.
A complete Estate Plan will also have a Durable Power of Attorney for property management. Some assets, such as retirement plans or 401ks, are not entered into the trust. If you become incapacitated or disabled the individual who has Power of Attorney for you can now manage those assets. The Power of Attorney enables your agent to transfer your assets into the Trust in the case of your incapacity. The Power of Attorney permits your agent to talk to the IRS and deal with them if necessary.
A complete Estate Plan can include all of these documents and then some. It allows you to plan for many different potential scenarios all while helping provide peace of mind for you and your heirs.