Each season of life brings it’s own unique changes and challenges.  Chances are you may want to plan ahead to protect yourself from potential incapacity, protect your family from probate, ensure your pets are taken care of, or perhaps it’s a charitable contribution that you care about – your goals deserve thoughtful planning to ensure they are achieved.  When considering how to properly plan for the next season of your life, a well-executed estate plan is a must.  Here are a few other documents you should consider when crafting the perfect estate plan that will protect yourself, your family, and your legacy.

Revocable Living Trust: A revocable living trust is a written agreement that is funded during your life with the assets that you own.  In the beginning, you can be both the trustee and the beneficiary. One benefit of a trust is that, should you become incapacitated, the successor trustee that has already been named in the written agreement and can seamlessly step in and continue handling the financial assets owned by the trust on your behalf. Thereafter, when you pass away, the remaining assets will be allocated according to your instructions in the trust. Because the assets are deemed to be owned by the trust, and you have already determined what will happen to them, there will be no need for probate. A specifically-crafted trust has the additional benefit of protecting your assets from potential creditors of your beneficiaries.

Financial Power of Attorney: A financial power of attorney is a written document in which you appoint a person to handle a variety of financial and property transactions on your behalf. This can include signing contracts for you, making deposits into your bank account, managing property, paying taxes, and opening new accounts for you. The specific powers given to an agent under a power of attorney will depend upon your wishes and what you list in the document itself.

Florida Designation of Healthcare Surrogate (Your Medical Power of Attorney): This document allows you to name an individual (your healthcare surrogate) to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to do so. While this is only applicable if you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to communicate your own wishes, this document will save your family a lot of time and money by making it unnecessary for them to go to the court to have someone appointed by a judge.

We understand how important your family, friends and legacy is to you. We want to make sure that you are properly protected and that everything is in place and exactly as you wish. Call our Coral Springs wills and trusts attorney to schedule an appointment so we can evaluate your unique situation and craft a plan to help ensure your legacy will be a lasting one!

(954) 999-9683

The Legacy Law Firm – Where Your Legacy Lives On