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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — Estate planner, and founder of Law Mother, Pamela Mass gives a detailed 6 step plan on how to get started with estate planning to set up your children’s. future.

​Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

In most cases, from the most sophisticated business people with the highest net worth to those just starting in the workforce and on their path to adulthood, you very likely do not know how to evaluate estimates when shopping for an estate plan.

Shopping for an estate plan based on getting the lowest cost plan possible is often the fastest path to leaving your family with an empty set of documents (maybe in a beautiful binder, but not worth the paper they are written on) that won’t work for your family when they need it.

Unfortunately, we see the negative effects of cheap estate planning when family members come to us during a time of grief with that fancy binder that sat on the shelf for years sending out signals of false security, full of out-of-date estate planning documents, and find themselves stuck in what could have been an avoidable court process, or even conflict when that’s exactly what their loved one thought they had paid someone to handle for them.

Here Are 5 Reasons Why Shopping For The Cheapest Estate Plan Is Likely To Leave You With A Plan That Won’t Work For Your Family… And Could Leave Them With A Big Mess Instead.

1. The least expensive plan isn’t worth the paper it’s written on once you’ve left the attorney’s office — your life changes, the law changes, and your assets change over time; your plan needs to keep up with those changes.

And the truth is a lawyer can’t afford to provide anything more than documents that won’t get updated when you only pay a few hundred dollars for a plan. The business model doesn’t work for the lawyer and won’t work for you.

An attorney who has built a practice specifically to serve your family in their best interests cannot make a living selling $399 (or even $1,500 or $2,000) Wills, Trusts, or estate plans. Only insurance and financial professionals getting paid commissions to sell your family’s annuities and life insurance products can make a living selling cheap documents. Buyer beware!

2. “Estate planning” is often sold by financial professionals who want to get their hands on your “assets under management,” not necessarily prioritizing doing right by your family or keeping the people you love out of court or conflict. They may not even know how to keep your family out of court or conflict.

When your estate plan has been sold to you by an investment advisor as part of your financial advisory and retirement support services, their focus isn’t on understanding the relational and legal dynamics of families, which can flare up after the death of a loved one. As “relational lawyers,” we’ve got specific expertise and training in pre-emptively identifying potential for family conflict and heading it off before it becomes an expensive problem. We’ve seen it all when it comes to families getting stuck in court, as your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can help you design a plan that prevents your family from court and conflict.

3. Forms and documents won’t be there for your family when you can’t be — you want to leave your loved one’s relationship with a trusted advisor with whom you have built a relationship during your lifetime and who has met them and they already Trust.

Working with a lawyer who focuses on “the best documents” at the “lowest price” or doesn’t charge enough for their services cannot provide more than form documents. These days, especially with the rise of AI, template form documents are free- for anyone to use, which makes it difficult to know how those documents are handled when it comes to protecting the people you love.

Shopping around for the least expensive plan may get you the cheapest documents, but those documents won’t be there to guide the people you love when they need someone to turn to in a crisis or grief. We will be.

4. You get what you pay for. It’s your family that will pay the price. Traditional law firms usually use generic forms and documents. These are called “Trust mills” and are a firm that drafts plans but doesn’t ensure assets are owned correctly or stay up to date over time. You might think that’s malpractice, but it’s not. It’s common practice, leaving your family at risk if and when something happens to you!

5. An estate plan isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing, it needs to stay updated with changes in your life, the law, and your assets.

There’s currently more than $58 billion in unclaimed property held in departments of unclaimed property across the United States. Yep, that is billion with a B. Assets often land there when someone dies or becomes incapacitated, and their family loses track of it because it wasn’t tracked well during life. And that’s just one way your family loses out if you’ve shopped around for the cheapest estate plan rather than having a plan that works for the people you love.

Is Something Better Than Nothing?

Sometimes, having something in place is better than nothing, but this is not one of those cases. In this case, having a “something” plan leaves your family holding the expensive, or even empty bag, when it’s too late for them and you to do anything about it. It’s risky business to leave your loved one’s with a set of documents you aren’t sure are going to work, and our guess is that you love your people too much for that.

Bottom line: don’t waste your time shopping around town for the cheapest plan possible. You don’t want the cheap plan, you want the plan that will work for the people you love when they need it.

If you already have an estate plan in place that you may have bought based on price, and are concerned you may have gotten a set of documents that won’t serve your family when they need it most, call us and ask about our 50-point assessment. We can help you save some money by giving it to do yourself, or you can pay us for a plan review to make sure your loved one’s won’t get stuck with an expensive and painful and unnecessary court process or loss of assets, when it’s too late.

Contact us to get on our calendar. We begin our planning process with a Family Wealth Planning Planning Session, during which you’ll not only become more financially organized than ever before, you’ll finally be able to make informed, educated choices about the right plan for your family based on your unique family dynamics and your assets, instead of just shopping around for an estate plan based on price.

The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer firms®, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

Like most people, you likely think estate planning is just one more task to check off your life’s endless “to-do” list.

You can shop around and find a lawyer to create planning documents for you or create your own DIY plan using online documents. Then, you’ll put those documents into a drawer, mentally check estate planning off your to-do list, and forget about them.

The problem is, estate planning is more than just a one-and-done type of deal.

It will be worthless if your plan is not regularly updated when your assets, family situation, and laws change. Failing to update your plan can create problems that can leave your family worse off than if you’ve never created a plan.

The following story illustrates the consequences of not updating your plan, which happened to the founder and CEO of New Law Business Model, Ali Katz. Indeed, this experience was one of the leading catalysts for her to create the new, family-centered model of estate planning we use with all of our clients.

A Game Changing Realization

When Ali was in law school, her father-in-law died. He’d done his estate planning—or at least thought he had. He paid a Florida law firm roughly $3,000 to prepare an estate plan for him, so his family wouldn’t be stuck with the hassles and expense of probate court or drawn into needless conflict with his ex-wife.

And yet, after his death, that’s exactly what did happen. His family was forced to go to court to claim assets that were supposed to pass directly to them. And on top of that, they had to deal with his ex-wife and her attorneys.

Ali couldn’t understand it. If her father-in-law paid $3,000 for an estate plan, why were his loved ones dealing with the court and his ex-wife? His planning documents were not updated, and his assets were not even correctly titled.

Ali’s father-in-law created a Trust so that his assets would pass directly to his family when he died, and they wouldn’t have to endure probate. But some of his assets had never been transferred into the name of his Trust from the beginning. And since there was no updated inventory of his assets, there was no way for his family to even confirm everything he had when he died. To this day, one of his accounts is still stuck in the Florida Department of Unclaimed Property.

Ali thought for sure this must be malpractice. But after working for one of the best law firms in the country and interviewing other top estate-planning lawyers across the country, she confirmed what happened to her father-in-law wasn’t malpractice at all. It was common practice.

This inspired Ali to take action. When she started her own law firm, she did so with the intention and commitment that she would ensure her clients’ plans would work when their families needed it and create a service model built around that mission.

Will Your Plan Work When Your Family Needs It?

We hear similar stories from our clients all the time. In fact, outside of not creating any plan, one of the most common planning mistakes we encounter is when we get called by the loved ones of someone who has become incapacitated or died with a plan that no longer works. Yet by that point, it’s too late, and the loved ones left behind are forced to deal with the aftermath.

We recommend you review your plan annually to ensure it’s up to date and immediately amend it following events like divorce, deaths, births, and inheritances. This is so important we’ve created proprietary systems designed to ensure these updates are made for all of our clients. You don’t need to worry about whether you’ve overlooked anything as your family, the law, and your assets change over time.

Furthermore, because your plan is designed to protect and provide for your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity, we aren’t just here to serve you—we’re here to serve your entire family. We take the time to get to know your family members and include them in the planning process so everyone affected by your plan is well aware of your latest planning strategies and why you made the choices you did.

Unfortunately, many estate planning firms only engage with a part of the family when creating estate plans, leaving the spouse and other loved ones primarily out of the loop. The planning process works best when your loved ones are educated and engaged. We can even facilitate regular family meetings to keep everyone up-to-date.

Built-In Systems To Keep Your Plan Current

Our legal services are designed to make estate planning as streamlined and worry-free as possible for you and your family. Unlike the lawyers who worked with Ali’s father-in-law, we don’t just create legal documents and put the onus on you to ensure they stay updated and function as intended—we take care of that on our end.

For example, our built-in systems and processes would’ve prevented two of the biggest mistakes made by the lawyers who created her father-in-law’s plan. These mistakes include: 1) not keeping his assets properly inventoried and 2) not correctly titling assets held by his Trust.

Maintaining a regularly updated inventory of all your assets is one of the most vital parts of keeping your plan current. We’ll not only help you create a comprehensive asset inventory, we’ll make sure the list stays consistently updated throughout your lifetime.

Start creating an inventory of everything you own to ensure your loved ones know what you have, where it is, and how to access it if something happens to you. From there, meet with us to incorporate your inventory into a comprehensive set of planning strategies that we’ll keep updated throughout your lifetime.

To properly title assets held by a Trust, it’s not enough to list the assets you want to cover when you create a Trust. You have to transfer the legal title of certain assets—real estate, bank accounts, securities, brokerage accounts—to the Trust, known as “funding” the Trust, for them to be appropriately disbursed.

While most lawyers will create a Trust for you, only some will ensure your assets are properly funded. We’ll not only make sure your assets are properly titled when you initially create your Trust, we’ll also ensure that any new assets you acquire throughout your life are inventoried and properly funded to your Trust. This will keep your assets from being lost and prevent your family from being inadvertently forced into court because your plan was never fully completed.

For The Love Of Your Family

With us as your Personal Family Lawyer®, our planning services go far beyond simply creating documents and then never seeing you again. We’ll develop a relationship with your family that lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your children and their children if that’s your wish.

We’ll support you in not only creating a plan that keeps your family out of court and out of conflict in the event of your death or incapacity, but we’ll also ensure your plan is regularly updated to make sure that it works and is there for your family when you cannot be. Contact us today to get started.

The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer firms, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

Being asked by a loved one to serve as Trustee for their Trust upon their death can be quite an honor, but it’s also a significant responsibility—and the role is not for everyone. Indeed, serving as a Trustee entails a broad array of duties, and you are both ethically and legally required to execute those duties or face potential liability.

Before you say yes, be sure you understand what it means to be a Trustee.

In the end, your responsibility as a Trustee will vary greatly depending on the size of the estate, the type of assets covered by the Trust, the type of Trust, how many beneficiaries there are, and the document’s terms. In light of this, you should carefully review the specifics of the Trust you would be managing before deciding to serve.

And remember, you don’t have to take the job.

Yet, depending on who nominated you, declining to serve may not be an easy or practical option. On the other hand, you might enjoy the opportunity to serve so long as you understand what’s expected.

To that end, this article offers a brief overview of what serving as a Trustee typically entails. If you are asked to serve as Trustee, feel free to contact us to support you in evaluating whether you can effectively carry out all the duties or if you should politely decline.

A Trustee’s Primary Responsibilities

Although every Trust is different, serving as a Trustee comes with a few core requirements: managing assets held in the name of the Trust, accounting for those assets, and following the terms of the Trust regarding distributions of income and/or principal to the beneficiaries of the Trust.

Remember, a Trust is simply an agreement between the grantor and the distribution of assets. The Trust agreement directs distribution to a Trustee to hold and manage the assets “inside the Trust” for the benefit of the beneficiaries.

As a Trustee, you will be acting as a “fiduciary,” meaning that you must act in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the Trust. And if you fail to abide by your duties as a fiduciary, you can face legal liability. For this reason, if you are named as Trustee, you should hire us to review the Trust Agreement and provide an analysis of the specific duties and responsibilities required of you before you agree to serve.

Regardless of the terms of the Trust or the assets it holds or will hold, some of your key responsibilities as Trustee include the following:

• Identifying and gathering the Trust assets
• Determining what the Trust’s terms require in terms of management and distribution of the assets
• Hiring and overseeing an accounting firm to file income and estate taxes for the Trust
• Communicating regularly with beneficiaries
• Being scrupulously honest, highly organized, and keeping detailed records of all transactions
• Closing the Trust when the Trust terms specify

No Experience Necessary

It’s important to point out that being a Trustee does NOT require you to be an expert in the law, finance, taxes, or any other field related to Trust administration. Trustees are not only allowed to seek outside support from professionals in these areas, but they’re also highly encouraged to do so, and the Trust estate will pay for you to hire these professionals.

So even though serving as a Trustee may seem daunting, you won’t have to handle the job alone. And you are also able to be paid to serve as a Trustee of a Trust.

That said, many Trustees, particularly close family members, often choose to forgo any payment beyond what’s required to cover the Trust expenses, if that’s possible. But how you are compensated will depend on your personal circumstances, your relationship with the Trust’s creator and beneficiaries, and the nature of the assets in the Trust.

We Can Help

Because serving as a Trustee involves such serious responsibility, you should meet with us, as your Personal Family Lawyer®, to help decide whether to accept the role. We can offer you a clear, unbiased assessment of what’s required of you based on the Trust’s terms, assets, and beneficiaries.

And if you choose to serve, it’s even more critical to have an experienced lawyer in estate planning to assist you with the Trust’s administration. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can guide you step-by-step throughout the entire process, ensuring you properly fulfill all of the Trust creator’s wishes without exposing the beneficiaries—or yourself—to any unnecessary risks. Contact us today to learn more.

The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer firms, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

Investing in life insurance is a foundational part of estate planning, and when done right it’s a primary way to say “I love you” to your loved ones after you are gone. However, when naming your policy’s beneficiaries, several mistakes can lead to potentially dire consequences for the people you’re investing to protect and support.

The following four mistakes are among the most common we see clients make when selecting life insurance beneficiaries. If you’ve made any of these errors, contact us immediately, so we can support you to change your beneficiary designations on your policy and ensure the proceeds provide the maximum benefit for those you love most.

1. Failing To Name A Beneficiary

Although it would seem common sense, whether intentional or not, far too many people fail to name any beneficiary on their life insurance policies or inadvertently name their “estate” as beneficiary. Both of these errors will mean your insurance proceeds must go through the court process known as probate.

During probate, a judge will determine who gets your insurance death benefits. This process can tie the benefits up in court for months or even years, depending on who the beneficiaries of your estate are under the law. Moreover, probate opens up the proceeds to creditors, which can seriously deplete—or even totally wipe out—the funds.

To keep your insurance proceeds out of court , make certain you designate—at the very least— one primary adult beneficiary. In case your primary beneficiary dies before you, you should also name a contingent (alternate) beneficiary. Name more than one contingent beneficiary for maximum protection in case your primary and secondary choices die before you.

Ideally, we often recommend that the primary beneficiary of your life insurance is the Trustee of a well-considered and thoughtful Trust Agreement to provide maximum benefit and protection for your heirs.

2. Forgetting To Update Beneficiaries

While failing to name any beneficiary is a huge mistake, not keeping your beneficiary designations up to date can be even worse. This is particularly true if you are in a second (or more) marriage and fail to remove an ex-spouse as beneficiary, which can leave your current spouse with nothing when you die.

To prevent this, you should review your beneficiary designations annually as part of an overall review of your estate plan and immediately update your beneficiaries upon events like divorce, deaths, and births. When you are our client, we have built-in systems to ensure your beneficiary designations (along with all other documents and decisions in your plan) are regularly reviewed and updated.

3. Naming A Minor (Or Their Guardian) As Beneficiary

You are technically permitted to name a minor child as a beneficiary of your life insurance , but it’s never a good idea. Minor children cannot receive insurance benefits until they reach the age of maturity—which can be as old as 21 in some states. In the event a minor is listed as beneficiary, the proceeds of your insurance will be distributed to a court-appointed custodian, who will manage the funds (often for a not insignificant fee) until the child reaches the age of maturity. At that point, all benefits are distributed to the beneficiary outright and unprotected.

This is true even if the minor has a living parent. A child’s living parent could petition to the court to be appointed custodian. Still, there is no guarantee that a parent would be appointed custodian, especially if the parent cannot qualify or pay for a bond. In many cases, a court could deem a parent unsuitable (if they have poor credit, for example) and instead appoint a paid fiduciary to control the funds.

Rather than naming a minor as a beneficiary, you may think to name the person you have chosen as guardian of your child. But that’s not the right answer either. In that case, all insurance would pay outright to the named guardian and could be used in any way they choose, or even be at risk of being taken in a divorce or by a judgment creditor of the guardian.

Instead, the right answer is to set up a trust to receive the insurance proceeds and name a trustee to hold and distribute the funds to a minor child you would want to benefit from your insurance proceeds, when and how you determine, or even hold them protected for your beneficiary to control but safe from divorce and creditors if you choose.

4. Naming An Individual With Special Needs As Beneficiary

Although a loved one with special needs is likely one of the first people you’d consider naming as beneficiary of your life insurance policy, doing so can have tragic consequences. Leaving insurance directly to someone with special needs could disqualify that individual from receiving much-needed government benefits.

Rather than naming someone with special needs as a beneficiary, you should create a “special needs trust” to receive the insurance proceeds. This way, the money won’t go directly to the beneficiary upon your death. Still, it would be managed by the trustee you name and dispersed according to the trust’s terms without affecting benefit eligibility.

The rules governing special needs trusts are complicated and vary greatly from state to state, so if you have a child with special needs, meet with us today to discuss your options. In the end, special needs planning involves much more than just life insurance—it’s about providing a lifetime of care and protection.

Eliminate Future Problems Now

While naming life insurance beneficiaries might seem simple, if you’re not careful, you can create major problems for the loved ones you’re doing your best to benefit. Meet with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® today to ensure you’ve done everything properly.

We can also support you in planning tools like trusts—special needs or otherwise—to ensure your insurance proceeds provide the maximum benefit for your beneficiaries without negatively affecting them. Schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session to get started.

The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer firms, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

You’ve probably heard you need a trust to keep your family out of court and maybe out of conflict in the event of your death or incapacity. And, if you haven’t, you are hearing it now. If you own any “probatable” assets in your name at the time of your incapacity or death, your family must go to court to access them. If you aren’t sure if your assets are “probatable” contact us to discuss.

But you may need clarification about whether you need a revocable living or irrevocable trust. More and more, we are seeing people come our way asking for an irrevocable trust, and so this article is designed to help you learn the difference and then get into an “eyes wide open” conversation about the right kind of trust for you and your loved ones.

What Is A Trust?

A trust is an agreement between the grantor of the trust (that’s you) with a trustee (someone named by you) to hold title to assets for the benefit of your beneficiaries (whoever you name). When we break it down in its simplest form, it’s that straightforward. It’s an agreement.

Now, the terms of that “agreement,” called a “trust agreement,” can vary significantly, and that’s where we come in as we’ll work with you to clarify the terms that you want between yourself and the trustee for the benefit of the people you name as beneficiaries.

With a revocable living trust (RLT), during your lifetime, you will be the “grantor,” the “trustee,” and the “beneficiary.” So, for all intents and purposes under the law, nothing really happens when you retitle your assets in the name of your RLT, so long as you are living and have the capacity (meaning you can make decisions for yourself).

With an RLT, once you become incapacitated (which is determined as per the instructions in the trust document) or in the event of your death, the trust becomes irrevocable, and the person or persons you’ve named as successor trustee steps in to control the assets held in the name of the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries named in the trust. If you are still living but incapacitated, you would be the beneficiary still. If you have died, then your named heirs would be the beneficiaries. At that point, the trust may distribute outright to your beneficiaries or be held in continuing trust — protected from creditors, future divorces, future lawsuits, and even estate taxes (if the trust is drafted properly) — if your trust terms provide for continuing protection.

You could indicate in the trust agreement that you want your beneficiaries to “control the trust” but that you want the trustee to continue to hold title to the assets, thereby protecting the assets, while giving the beneficiaries nearly full control and use of the assets. This is a bit tricky, so don’t try it at home without support. But, if you want to provide this kind of benefit and protection to the people you love, be sure to talk with us about building a Lifetime Asset Protection Trust into your plan. It’s highly worth it if you’ll pass on anything more than what your children will immediately spend upon your death.

We support you in making these decisions in our Family Wealth Planning Session™ process before ever drafting a single legal document for you. But before we talk about that, let’s clarify what a irrevocable trust is and where it might fit into your plan.

A irrevocable trust is the same as a revocable trust — an agreement between a grantor and a trustee to hold the property for a beneficiary. Still, if the trust agreement is irrevocable, or once it becomes irrevocable, it cannot be changed. There are some exceptions to this, but for the most part, that is the case. If you put your assets into a irrevocable trust, you cannot then take them out of the trust and return them to yourself because the gift to the trustee to hold the assets for the beneficiary is irrevocable.

A irrevocable trust can remove assets from your name and protect them from future lawsuits or future growth in your estate, which removes them from your estate for estate tax purposes. We will recommend irrevocable trusts when we are preparing your estate for the potentiality that you may need long-term nursing care that you would like covered by Medicaid (or Medi-Cal) without decimating your family’s inheritance, or on the other end of the spectrum, if you have an estate that could be subject to the estate tax or that could be at significant risk of lawsuits.

When you meet with us for a Family Wealth Planning Session™, we’ll look at your assets, family dynamics, personal desires, and how the law will apply to all of it. Then, together, we will decide on the right plan for you — whether to include a trust or not, whether that trust should be revocable or not, and if it is revocable, when it should be irrevocable, and how long it should last for the people you love.

Never choose a type of trust without working with a lawyer who understands you, your family, your assets, and your goals. Never use a life insurance professional or financial advisor to choose the type of trust or draft your trust for you. Too many variables could leave your family with a big mess. We’ll guide you to make the right decisions during life and be there for your family when you can’t be. And we’ll integrate the proper insurance, financial, and tax professionals into your planning at the right time to ensure everything we create works for you and the people you love.

When you meet with us, your Personal Family Lawyer®, we will learn about you, your family dynamics, your assets and your risks and liabilities, needs and desires to support you in the empowering decision-making process of creating an estate plan that works for you and the people you love. Contact us today to get started.

The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer firms, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

When it comes to estate planning and wills, you have a variety of options for legal documents. The most common of these options is a “last will and testament,” which is also known simply as a “will.” But you may have also heard people talk about a “living will” and wonder what that is, and whether you need a living will in addition to a regular last will and testament.

Both terms describe important legal documents used in estate planning, but their purpose and function differ significantly. In this article, we will review some of the most critical things you need to know about living wills and why having a living will is essential to every adult’s estate plan. And it may be that a living will is even more important than a last will and testament.

What Is A Living Will?

A living will, also called an advance healthcare directive, is a legal document that tells your loved ones and doctors how you would want your medical care handled if you become incapacitated and cannot make such decisions yourself, particularly at the end of life. Specifically, a living will outlines the procedures, medications, and treatments you would want and would not want to prolong your life if you cannot make such decisions yourself.

For example, within the terms of your living will, you can articulate certain decisions, such as if and when you would want life support removed should you ever require it and whether you would want hydration and nutrition supplied to prolong your life.

Beyond instructions about your medical care, a living will can even describe what type of food you want and who can visit you in the hospital. These are critical considerations for your well-being at a time of greatest need for you. And if you haven’t provided any specific instructions, decisions will be made on your behalf that you likely will not want.

Living Will vs. Last Will And Testament

Upon death, a last will and testament ensure your assets are distributed as you choose. Note that your last will only deals with your assets and only operates upon your death. In contrast, a living will is about you, not your assets. And it operates in the event of your incapacity, not your death.

In other words, a last will tells others what you want to happen to your wealth and property after you die, while a living will tells others how you want your medical treatment managed while you are still alive. And that’s really important for you and your care!

Living Will vs. Medical Power of Attorney

Medical power of attorney is the part of an advance healthcare directive that allows you to name a person, known as your “agent,” to make healthcare decisions for you if you are incapacitated and unable to make those decisions yourself.

Simply put, medical power of attorney names those who can make medical decisions in the event of your incapacity, while a living will explains how you would want your medical care handled during your incapacity.

Why Having A Living Will Is So Important

A living will is a vital part of every adult’s estate plan, as it can ensure your medical treatment is handled exactly the way you want if you cannot communicate your needs and wishes. Additionally, a living will can prevent your family from undergoing needless trauma and conflict during an already trying time.

Without a living will, your family would have to guess what treatments you might want, and your loved ones are likely to experience stress and guilt over the decisions they make on your behalf. In worst cases, your family members could even end up battling one another in court over who should manage your medical care and how.

Should You Rely On A Living Will Created Online?

While there is a wide selection of living wills, medical power of attorney, and other advance directive documents online, you likely want more guidance and peace of mind than is available through an online service to support you to address such critical decisions adequately. Regarding your medical treatment and end-of-life care, you have unique needs and wishes that cannot be anticipated or adequately addressed by generic documents or without the counseling and guidance we can provide through your decision-making process.

To ensure your directives are tailored to suit your unique situation, work with experienced estate planning professionals like us, your local Personal Family Lawyer® to support you to create and/or review your living will.

How We Can Help

Even if you have a professionally prepared and well-thought-out living will, it won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on if nobody knows about it. A living will comes into effect the second you sign it, so you should immediately deliver copies to your agent, alternate agents, primary care physician, and other medical specialists.

Additionally, don’t forget to give those folks new versions whenever you update those documents and have them destroy the old documents. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, delivering the latest copies of your living will and other estate planning documents is a standard part of our Life & Legacy Planning Process. We ensure that everyone who needs your documents always has the latest version.

And since unforeseen illness or injury could strike at any time. Don’t wait to plan your will. Contact us to get this critical document in place. Call us today to schedule an appointment.

The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer firms, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

Maybe you’ve wondered about your own debt or perhaps your parent’s debt—what happens to that debt when you (or they) die? Well, it depends, and that’s part of the reason you want to ensure your estate plan is well prepared. How you handle your debt can greatly impact the people you love.

In some cases, you could inadvertently leave a reality in which your surviving heirs—your kids, parents, or others—are responsible for your debt. Alternatively, if you structure your affairs properly, your debt could die right along with you.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, an individual’s debt does not disappear once that person dies. Rather, the debt must either be paid out of the deceased’s estate or by a co-creditor. And that could be bad news for you or the people you love.

What exactly happens to this debt can vary. One of the purposes of the court process known as probate is to provide a time period for creditors to make a claim against the deceased’s estate, in which case debts would be paid before beneficiaries receive their inheritance. But if there is nothing in the probate estate and all assets are held outside of the probate estate, then what?

Well, that’s where we come in, and why it’s so important to get your affairs in order, even if you have a lot more debt than assets. Your “estate” isn’t just what you own, it includes what you owe, too. And with good planning, we can help you align it all in exactly the way you want.

Debt After Death

When an individual dies, someone will handle his or her affairs, and this person is known as an executor. The executor can either be someone of the individual’s choice, if he or she planned in advance, or someone appointed by the court in the absence of planning. The executor opens the probate process, during which the court recognizes any will that’s in place and formally appoints the executor to administer the deceased’s estate and distribute any outstanding assets to their loved ones.

During this process, the estate’s assets are used to pay any outstanding debt. This usually includes all of an individual’s assets, although it does not include assets with beneficiary designations, such as 401(k) plans and insurance policies. The estate does not own these assets, and they pass directly to the named beneficiaries. Given these factors, if an individual’s assets are subject to probate and the person has outstanding debt, their beneficiaries will receive a smaller share of anything left to them in the estate plan.

How Unsecured Debts Are Handled After Death

Typically, unsecured debts, such as credit card debts, are the last form of debt the estate repays. In most cases, the estate first repays any outstanding secured debts, including car and mortgage loans. Following this, the estate repays the legal and administrative fees associated with executing the deceased’s will. From there, the estate repays any outstanding unsecured debt, including credit card balances. Usually, if the estate lacks the assets to repay these debts, creditors have no choice but to accept the loss.

However, in some states, probate laws may dictate how the deceased’s creditors can clear these debts in other ways, such as by forcing the sale of the deceased’s property. It’s worth noting that there is a time limit for creditors to claim against an estate after the deceased dies, and this time frame varies between states.

Avoiding Probate

There are several things you can do to avoid probate. Perhaps the most common involves establishing a revocable living trust. Since the trust, not the estate, owns the assets, assets held by a properly funded and maintained trust do not have to go through the probate process.

Despite this, creating a living trust does not guarantee an individual’s assets will receive protection from creditors if that person has debt. What it does mean is that his or her heirs may have more flexibility compared to probate. In other words, by creating a living trust, your trustee may be able to negotiate with creditors more easily to reduce any outstanding debt. In theory, creditors may still sue to repay the debt in full. However, since this could involve significant costs, creditors may prefer to settle instead.

When Do Surviving Family Members Pay The Deceased’s Debts?

Most of the time, it’s unnecessary for surviving family members to pay the deceased’s debt with their own money. Instead, as noted above, payment of the debts are either paid out of the deceased’s estate, or if there is no estate, the debts are extinguished. However, there are some exceptions to this, including the following:

• Co-signing loans or credit cards: If someone cosigns a loan or credit card with the deceased, that individual is responsible for clearing any outstanding debt associated with that account.
• Having jointly owned property: If an individual has jointly owned property or bank accounts with the deceased, that person is responsible for clearing any outstanding balances associated with these assets.
• Community property: In some states, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Louisiana, Idaho, Texas, Washington, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, the surviving spouse is required to clear any outstanding debt associated with community property. Community property is any property jointly owned by a married couple.
• State laws: Some states require surviving family members, or the estate more generally, to clear any debts associated with the deceased’s healthcare costs. Additionally, if the estate’s executor failed to follow a state’s probate laws, it might be necessary for him or her to pay fines for doing so.

What To Do When Someone Dies With Debt

When someone dies with outstanding debt, it’s important to take swift action to handle their affairs and negotiate their debts. Below are some steps to follow when faced with this scenario:

1. Understand Your RightsSince probate laws vary between states, it’s a good idea to thoroughly research the probate process in our state, or hire a lawyer to handle the estate for or with you. Many states require creditors to make claims within a specific period, while also requiring surviving family members to publicly declare the deceased’s death before creditors can collect any outstanding debt. It’s also against the law for creditors to use offensive or unfair tactics to collect outstanding credit debt from surviving family members. It’s generally a good idea to ask creditors for proof of any outstanding debt before paying.
2. Collect DocumentsCollecting documents can be fairly straightforward, particularly if the deceased left all their vital financial papers in a single location. If the surviving family members cannot locate these documents, they can request the deceased’s credit report, which lists any accounts in the deceased’s name. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can do this for you, as part of our post-death support services.
3. Cease Additional SpendingThis is essential to prevent any debts in the deceased’s name from increasing further, even if there is another person authorized to make payments. Ceasing additional spending. including canceling any recurring subscriptions, also helps prevent unnecessary complications when negotiating with creditors.
4. Inform CreditorsProactively contact the deceased’s creditors to look into options for negotiating the debt, and notify credit bureaus of the death. To complete this process, it’s useful to have several copies of the death certificate to share with insurance companies and creditors. Afterwards, ask to close all accounts in the deceased’s name, and request the credit bureaus freeze the deceased’s credit, preventing others from unlawfully getting credit in his or her name.
5. Close The EstateOnce all debt has been paid off, forgiven, or extinguished, the executor can officially close the estate. The process for doing this varies based on how assets and debts were held, so do not go into this part alone. Contact us to find out how we can support you.

We Can Help Ensure Your Family Doesn’t Get Stuck With Your Debt

Effective estate planning involves taking care of your affairs, and this includes ensuring your debts will be handled in such a way that your family isn’t left with a big mess or inadvertently forced into court. Consider scheduling a Family Wealth Planning Session with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to determine how we can help protect your assets and prevent creditors from reducing the gifts you want to leave your loved ones after death. Contact us today to learn more.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.

If you are looking to create your last will and testament, or will, online, you’ll find dozens of websites that let you prepare a variety of estate planning documents for very little money, and even for free. With so many do-it-yourself online document services out there, you might believe you can create your will online, all on your own, without paying a lawyer to help.

And in some cases, you can create your will online.

But if you do, you need to understand how these services can backfire on you and your family. Online estate planning can be a catastrophe for those who aren’t aware of the risks. And as you’ll see, creating your will online without a lawyer’s guidance can even be worse for your family than if you’d done nothing at all.

Know what’s possible – and what’s not

A great way to start educating yourself is by watching this training video by family financial and legal expert Ali Katz. This free, one-hour training clarifies what you can do yourself online, and when you really need a lawyer’s support. The training also gives you access to an online tool you can use to create an inventory of all your assets, which is critically important to leave to your loved ones, no matter how much or little you have to pass on.

Meanwhile, if you are looking to create your own will online, first ask yourself the following 3 questions. After considering these 3 questions, if you determine you can create your own will online, you should seriously consider having us review it for you once you complete the document to be certain you’ve properly covered everything and everyone you care about.

1. Will your online will keep your family out of court?

When considering creating your own will online, the first question you need to ask yourself is: “Should I become incapacitated or when I die, do I want to keep my family out of court?” If your answer is “Yes, I 100% want to keep my family out of court,” then creating your own will online may not be the best idea.

While a will is a necessary element of most estate plans, it’s typically just one small part of an integrated plan. And a will by itself won’t keep your family out of court. In order for assets covered by your will to be transferred to your beneficiaries, your will must first pass through the court process known as probate.

During probate, the court oversees the administration of your estate and assets, ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes, while ensuring any creditors of your estate are paid, and managing any disputes that arise. Probate is lengthy, expensive, and open to the public, so you’ll want to have more than a will in place if you have any assets that would go through court in the event of your incapacity or death.

To avoid probate and keep your assets out of court, your will needs to be combined with other planning documents and important conversations as well, including a properly drafted and funded trust, up to date and effective beneficiary designations and conversations with family that ensure they won’t end up in conflict due to your lack of preparation.

Beneficiary designations and trust planning can be complex, and if you have assets that would otherwise pass through the court process, it may be difficult to ensure you are making all the right choices for your loved ones and your assets using an online document service. This is why we recommend that you begin your estate planning with a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which we can help you look at your family dynamics, and your assets, and assess what would happen to everything you have and everyone you love, when something happens to you. During this planning session, we can then determine the right plan for you and the people you love to help keep them out of court when something happens to you.

2. Is your online will’s execution legally valid?

If you do not have assets that would go through the court process, and you want to create an online will simply to name someone as your executor in the event of your death, you’ll want to make sure your online will is legally valid.

Each state has specific laws stipulating how a will must be documented and signed to be legally binding. If you fail to execute your will in accordance with these laws, the court can deem your will legally invalid.

If the court deems your will invalid, it’s as if the document never existed. In that case, a judge would name the person it considers is best to handle your estate, and your assets would be distributed according to state intestacy laws, which typically give priority to your closest living blood relatives.

If you want to ensure your online will is legally valid, you can look up your state’s laws governing the valid execution of a will. From there, make certain you sign it properly, with the right number and type of witnesses.

3. Does your online Will properly name an executor?

If you are going to create your own online will, the last question to consider is whether the will properly names an executor, along with back-up executors, and ensures that those you name will be appointed by the court in the event of your death.

An executor, also called a “personal representative,” is the person responsible for carrying out the instructions in your will. Your executor is typically named in your will and appointed by the court to locate and manage your assets, pay any outstanding debts and taxes you owe, and distribute your remaining assets to your beneficiaries.

If you don’t name an executor in your will, or the person you choose is determined to be unfit, the court will appoint an executor for you. As an example of how things can go wrong here, one common situation in which a named executor can be determined to be unfit is if your will does not waive the requirement for the executor to obtain a bond, and your named executor cannot qualify for a bond. This is a frequent mistake made by those who create their own will online.

If you’re unaware of these requirements when creating your online will, your chosen executor could be deemed unfit, leaving the choice up to the court. We can make certain your choice for executor is properly qualified, so you can rest easy knowing someone you know and trust will handle your final affairs and support your loved ones when you no longer can.

The Professional Support You Deserve

As you can see, creating your will online without a lawyer’s help is a huge gamble, and if you get it wrong, it can cost your family a lot more than money. Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all document service, meet with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to create your will and other estate planning documents.

Our Life & Legacy Planning Process is specifically designed to put in place the right combination of planning solutions to fit with your unique asset profile, family dynamics, budget, as well as your overall goals and desires. Until then, if you need to get your plan started or need us to review your existing documents, contact us today.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. Are you ready to protect your loved ones and legacy? Check out my next presentation.