Estate Planning

The purpose of an estate plan is to be sure you and your family are protected in the event of your death or incapacity. Proper planning can make all the difference in the world to you and your family. Please take a moment to think about the questions set forth below.

Critical Estate Planning Questions

1. What will happen to your property upon your death?
2. Who will take care of your minor children? Do any of your children have special needs?
3. Should your property distributed to your children at age 18 or should the property be held in trust for their benefit and distributed to them when they are older?
4. Do you or your spouse have children from a prior marriage that require special planning?
5. Would your children be protected if your property goes to your spouse who may someday remarry?
6. Who would be in charge of managing your financial affairs if you become incapacitated?
7. How you would pay for long term care if you need help living at home, in an assisted living center or at a nursing home?
8. Who would make medical decisions about your care if you are incapacitated?
9. Would you be interested in avoiding the expense and time involved in probating your estate?
10. Are your life insurance and retirement plan beneficiary designations to consistent with you overall estate plan?

Need for Estate Planning

You really do need a will and other estate planning documents to specify your intent and desires after your death. Although it is understandable to procrastinate, failure to adequately plan can have disastrous consequences, both personal as well as financial, for your family.

If you don’t take the time to prepare your own estate plan, the State of Idaho will do it for you. So the question is not whether you will have an estate plan, but whether you will have an estate plan that does what you want it to do.

Preparing a Will

At a minimum you need a will that provides how your assets will be distributed at your death and names a personal representative who will assist with the administration of your estate. The will can create a trust to hold property for minor children, as well naming a guardian for them.

A will outlines your wishes about the distribution of your property after death, but a probate will still be required. You may want to consider the advantages of a living trust.

Creating a Living Trust

When you create a Revocable Living Trust, you transfer ownership of your assets to the trust. You and possibly your spouse can act as trustee so you still have complete control. You can still buy, sell, borrow or transfer property in the trust. And the terms of the trust can be changed during life if you change your mind.

The advantage is that when the assets are in the name of the trust there is no need for probate. The trust identifies the person who will act as successor trustee if you become incapacitated or upon your death. You can name a person you trust to manage and distribute the assets in the trust as you have directed in the trust agreement.

The advantages of a living trust include:

• If an illness or accident leaves you incapacitated, your trustee can handle your financial affairs so there is no need for a court appointed conservator.
• If the beneficiaries of your trust are minor children, the trust can continue to hold the assets until they reach a more mature age.
• If you own real property in more than one state, you avoid the expense of having to file a probate in that state.

Durable Power of Attorney

If you become incapacitated due to an illness or accident, you need a durable power of attorney. A durable power of attorney appoints a person you trust to act on your behalf. This person can use your funds to pay your bills, obtain services for your benefit and even make basic health care decisions for you. You can even create a durable power of attorney that will only go into effect in the event you are incapacitated. This is called a springing durable power of attorney. And a durable power of attorney may be revoked by you at any time, so long as you are competent to do so.

Health Care Power of Attorney

You also should have a health care power of attorney, which lets you give legal authority to another person possibly your spouse or an adult child, to make any health care decision for you - including the use of life support - if you become unable to do so yourself.

Living Will

Finally, you need a living will which lets your health care providers know the kind of life support treatment you would want in case of a terminal medical condition. This can save your family the agony of trying to make this decision for you.