Different periods in our lives may bring new challenges and needs, especially when you are planning for the unexpected. Much like a financial plan, an estate plan should grow and change to meet the needs of your situation. It should look and act as differently from your friend’s or neighbor’s plans as their situation is from yours.
It’s easy to see how a plan should respond to material circumstances. A business owner must deal with transition planning; an author must worry about intellectual property. But each plan also needs to reflect the soft changes in your life that go beyond assets and items. In this article, our attorneys identify four stages in life where you should review your estate plan.
1) New additions to the family
Getting married and having kids open new avenues of life. With these major events come a renewed need for . The focus in this stage is the well-being of your children and their futures. How will your spouse or your children be cared for if something happens to you? Who will be responsible?
There are a number of solutions depending on your situation. A simple will may be enough. If things are a little more complicated, you may benefit from a basic revocable trust. For children with special needs, a significant inheritance, or complex arrangements, there are various types of specialized inheritance trusts to consider with your attorney. It is important to find the right strategy for your specific situation.
2) Adult-children leaving home for the first time
One of the best times to begin establishing the foundation of an estate plan is when a young adult is ready to move away from home. This is typically someone 18 or older and either heading to college or ready to start making their own life.
Preparing foundational documents can let you help your kids in case of an emergency. Legally speaking, once your child turns 18, you no longer have authority over their affairs without a grant of permission. We advise individuals in this situation get in place foundational documents like Powers of Attorney (medical and financial), advanced medical directives, and wills to grant parents the ability to their children in case of an emergency.
3) Preparing for Retirement
Once your children have grown up and you have seen who they are, you may start asking, if they need any special help. Do they have their own struggles or challenges? For some, the answer may mean structuring a delayed or gradual inheritance. It may require using a special trust to ensure that a beneficiary’s disability benefits aren’t displaced. It may mean extra liability protection, or supervision and contingencies for a beneficiary with substance abuse problems.
Beyond the kids, it’s important to consider long-term care planning for yourself. By getting started before anyone is sick, you can effectively exempt a significant portion of your estate from any LTC-related spend down. Even if you or your spouse requires in-home, assisted living, or nursing care, this can protect an inheritance or means of support that could otherwise be lost.
4) Heading into the Sunset Years
As we age and enter our final years, dramatic planning can be necessary. This may take the form of advanced tax strategies as we get a better idea of what Congress will do in the short-term. At least as often, we need help with those same long-term care problems we wanted to avoid. How do we get services we need? Can we pay for help without having to lose everything we have worked for? Emergency planning is an option, and one to take seriously.
So, when is the right time to get your estate plan in place or revisit your plan?
It is always a suitable time. We have met with too many people who are in their 80’s and either haven’t done any planning at all or haven’t updated their documents since 1982. This can leave family members with not only heartache, but the headache of probate litigation.
Talking with your attorney as you go through the different phases of life, and reviewing your plans after certain key life events, including marriage, the birth of a child, divorce or the death of a spouse, and a significant increase or decrease in assets; may help family members and beneficiaries in fulfilling their responsibilities to the decedent.
If you or a loved one are ready to safeguard not only your assets, but the overall well-being of every person touched by your estate after your passing, give our estate planning attorneys a call. We take pride in guiding our clients through the important process of protecting their families and their assets.
It really helped when you talked about estate plans and how to know it’s time to upgrade them. Recently, my wife and I decided it’d be smart if we started working on our will. We want to make sure our family’s protected when we leave, so we’ll be sure to follow your advice! Thanks for the tips on estate plans and how we must keep ours updated!
I love that you talked about the importance of knowing the changes that may be effective in your life for your planning. I remember when my father mentioned to me last night he is planning to start estate planning for his assets and asked if I have any idea what is the best option to do. You did a great job of explaining the importance of planning and I’ll be sure to tell him that it will be much better if we consult an estate planning lawyer as they can answer all our inquiries and will help him throughout the process.
I’m glad that you talked about the importance of having extra liability protection for the safety of your assets. I remember when my father is planning to start his estate planning for his assets, and he asked if I have any idea what is the best option to do. You did a great job of explaining the importance of planning and I’ll be sure to consult a trust probate administration attorney for my future estate planning.
I want to make sure that I get my estate planned out properly, and I’m not sure what to do about it. It makes sense that I would want to get a professional to help me out with this. That way, I can ensure that I handle it legally.
Thanks for helping me understand that updating and checking your documents from time to time will save your family from the headache of probate law. I guess I need to meet with a lawyer to know more about this now that Iw wanted to have a will and testament made. It’s to secure my son, especially when I am a single parent.
Thanks for the info about estate planning. My parents are interested in estate planning. I’ll tell them to meet with an attorney to discuss how estate planning might help them.
It was a great idea when you suggested revisiting estate planning after the kids have grown and you can see if they may need any special help. We have one sibling who had some challenges with mental illness when he reached his mid-20s. This was not foreseen prior to this. They are going to see that they leave him with special services when they have passed. Making a call to an estate planning attorney is next on their schedule.
Thank you for explaining that you should revise your will when you’re preparing for retirement. I’ve been wondering when we should plan to revise our will, since I don’t think it will always be applicable. I’ll share this with my husband so we can have a rough idea of when to do this.
My aunt has been dealing with the death of her grandmother, and she is having a really hard time dealing with what she left behind. She would really like to get some planning from a professional to make sure that there isn’t a mess left behind. Thanks for your advice on how she will prevent her family from being left with heartache, and headaches of litigation.
I find it fascinating that an estate plan works as a couple of instructions for your assets that will kick in when you’re unable to decide for yourself. I think it should be a priority that your beneficiaries should receive your assets when something bad happens to you. I’ll be sure to seek out an estate planning expert for help once I end up owning a couple of assets!
Thanks for the reminder that it’s important to talk to my estate planning lawyer when my kids become adults. I’d like to find a good lawyer soon because I plan to start preparing for my retirement. Being able to work on estate planning early on would be very important in the long run.