You have likely heard all the arguments in favor of estate planning. You understand it’s the right thing to do, you want to get it done, but perhaps you just aren’t sure how to get started. Estate planning can feel like an overwhelming project. To get started I suggest taking it one step at a time by following this list.
1.Write down your objectives.
You may have several objectives for your estate, or one primary objective such as “ensuring my minor children have a place to go” or “keeping the family business intact.” Knowing the objectives you want to accomplish from the outset will get you organized and assist you in making subsequent decisions.
2. Make a list of the people you can count on.
Throughout your estate plan, you will be nominating people to make decisions on your finances, your healthcare, and your estate or trust if something happens to you. Make a rough list of people you would trust in these roles. Begin with the goals you identified in paragraph one above and go from there. For example, if your initial goal was guardianship of minors, make a list of people you would trust with the care of your children, and move from there to executors, trustees, health care decision-makers, etc.
3. Make a list of your assets and their approximate values.
This will enable your estate planning attorney to recommend the type of planning you should consider. In preparing your list, assets include, but are not limited to, your: home, bank accounts, savings/investment accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, family-owned business, automobiles, and other assets.
4. Choose an attorney.
Estate planning is a technical process, and the laws tend to change frequently. The good news is that now that you’ve completed the beginning steps, the follow-through with your chosen attorney will make the process much simpler! To help demystify estate planning, I’m including some basic definitions of common terms often related to estate planning.
Once you understand the purpose of each instrument it can help you know if it is something you should consider.
- Healthcare Power of Attorney: A legal document that allows an individual to designate another person to make medical decisions for him or her when he or she cannot make decisions for himself or herself.
- Living Will: The purpose of this Living Will Declaration is to document your wish that life-sustaining treatment, including artificially or technologically supplied nutrition and hydration, be withheld or withdrawn if you are unable to make informed medical decisions and are in a terminal condition or a permanently unconscious state.
- Your General Power of Attorney: (sometimes referred to as Financial Power of Attorney) – these are people you have chosen to manage your financial affairs if you are unable to do so.
- Your Trust: Sometimes called revocable trust or living trust. The trust holds and distributes your hard-earned assets during your lifetime and upon your death – as you have designated. A trustee, generally yourself, manages and distributes the trust assets according to the terms you designate in the trust.
Although estate planning appears overwhelming at the outset, estate planning is really just a series of small steps, each of which leads you to the achievement of your ultimate goal. Now that isn’t so difficult….what are you waiting for?
Final Thoughts
Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When making your estate plans or when probating an estate or administering a trust, do not go it alone. Be sure to engage a Cincinnati estate planning attorney.
For more information about estate planning, probate, or trust administration in Cincinnati (and throughout the rest of Southwest Ohio) and to review free resources regarding estate planning, probate, or trust administration, visit my website. If you have questions regarding this article or a particular legal matter, feel free to contact me at 513-399-PLAN (7526). David H. Lefton is an Estate Planning and Probate Attorney. He is a partner in the law firm of Barron, Peck, Bennie & Schlemmer.