Regardless of your circumstances, estate planning is important. It helps to ensure you that upon your incapacity or death, your assets will be managed and transferred according to your wishes, in the most financially and administratively efficient way possible, to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones.
Estate Planning is not just for the wealthy. It's less expensive than you think!
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What does an estate plan include?
- A Will
- A Revocable Trust
- A Healthcare Proxy
- A Living Will
- A HIPAA Release
Do I really need an Estate Plan? I don't own much.
If you have a bank account, a home, a pet, a car, then you have assets. There is no “minimum asset requirement” for an estate plan. An estate plan considers all components of your life and allows YOU to provide the instruction as to what should happen to your estate.
Estate Planning 101
We all have a plan designed for us by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…do we want it?
Circumstance
Financial Incapacity
Physical Incapacity
Death: Money, Personal Items, Household Items, Photos, Etc.
Comm of MA Solution
Conservator
Guardian
Intestacy Laws
Estate Planning Solution
Durable Power of Attorney
Health Care Proxy
Will
If you get seriously injured or ill, who do you want to make health care/financial decisions for you?
Without an estate plan, the courts may complicate, delay or even override the ability of someone of your choosing to make medical or financial decisions for you. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts solutions take much more time and cost more than getting a plan of your choosing and design in place.
A will is a legal document that spells out your wishes regarding care of your children, as well as distribution of your assets after your death.
A will allows you to communicate your wishes clearly and precisely. Without a will, the state would decide how to distribute your assets to your beneficiaries according to its laws. It’s called dying intestate. The intestate settlement process may not produce the outcome you would prefer for your survivors.
What's in a will:
- Designation of a Personal Representative
(f/k/a Executor) - How and Who Gets Your Assets
- Guardians of any minor children
A Health Care Proxy
enables you to name an individual to be the person communicating with the doctors and making health care decisions for you if you become incapacitated.
A Living Will (Advanced Directive)
lets you communicate the level of care you wish or don’t wish to receive in the event of serious illness or injury.
The HIPAA Release
provides full access to your medical records, so decisions makers have the complete information.
Durable Power of Attorney
allows someone named by you to continue to pay your bills and carry on your financial and legal life should you become incapacitated.
Revocable Trust
is a document used to avoid probate and to protect the privacy of the assets in the trust (assets that pass via a will are a matter of public record), the trust owner and beneficiaries of the trust, and in some cases may minimize estate taxes.
Your assets –investments, bank accounts, and real estate are placed into the trust. You can change or amend the trust at any time; you retain control of the assets, even though they now belong to the trust.