All of us have the potential to become incapacitated at any given point in time. It’s not a nice truth, but it’s a truth, nevertheless. Some of us see it happening years beforehand. Others of us see it only seconds before it’s already too late, leaving us unable to continue living our lives to the fullest.
By using estate planning law properly, thankfully, you can still leave a lasting impact. You’re not bound to just your will. There’s much more to estate planning that lets you do more when your body can’t do more. A living trust can be set up to distribute your assets while you’re still here. An executioner can be elected to carry out your plans when you’re no longer able to enact your wishes. Estate planning is not merely for the dying, but for the healthy, too.
Incapacity Help | Choose Your Will’s Executioner
Though you will need to get your will in order before your executioner can have any real legal power, electing the executioner should follow shortly after getting your estate ready. Ideally, you should start looking for one sooner than later. This role can be carried out by almost anyone. The catch is that this person should outlive you. You want them to be able to make all of the medical and financial decisions that you want to be made when you’re otherwise unable to. Able-bodied and trusted descendants are excellent candidates for such a role.
On a similar notion, your will’s executioner should potentially be the friend or relative who worked alongside you while planning out your estate. Estate planning doesn’t need to be a private matter. If you’re presently working on any part of your estate planning, consider getting them on board. They might want to have their say in how everything is going to be carried out. Don’t forget that your executioner is going to be the one who actually has to see that your will is carried out. They do your dirty work. If they choose to revoke their duty once you’ve passed on, the state might take their place. What the state does is up to them
Preparing for Incapacity | Set Up Trusts
No, trusts don’t take the place of your will, but they can complement and/or enhance it. It can also help you avoid probate. They can act as fail-safes in case someone contests part of your will. They’re often considered more credible in court, making them better options for handling serious assets. In the case that you do become incapacitated, a Minnesota Trust might help ensure that some assets still go through.
Both wills and trusts, nonetheless, can be legally challenged on the notion that you were not fit to compose them. So, before everything goes down the hill, getting your will and trusts in order are top priorities. Once you’re incapacitated, creating or editing either might not do anything good in the long run. You should not wait until the eleventh hour, lest something unexpected happens. You may even want to make a living trust, meaning that you’ll need to speak with the individual who you want to carry out your wishes while you still can.
Incapacity Help | List and Track Down Beneficiaries
This is the part where you might need to do a little bit of homework. However, if you’re dead serious about passing down assets to all of your beneficiaries, make a list of your beneficiaries and verify each bit of data is accurate. Jot down their phone numbers, their email addresses, where they live, the names of their kids and significant others, and anything else the executioner may find helpful when they need to track them down. It’s the executioner’s job to track down and alert every beneficiary once you’re no longer here.
Without a verified list, the executioner might need to go off the grid to find each beneficiary who is nowhere to be found. You can’t expect your executioner to know where each beneficiary is located or how to get in touch with them unless you let them know ahead of time.
The executioner might not be keeping tabs on everyone who moves or be aware of every beneficiary involved. If you can, check in with your beneficiaries and update your list often. Schedule a yearly tea and/or ask at every family get-together. You’re doing this for their benefit. Although, if you can’t track them down or you give up, you may just want to remove them entirely from your will. Don’t assume that your executioner will be able to ignore people who cannot be found. And above all, make sure your executioner has access to the list even once you’ve passed on.
Incapacity Help | Get Your Will in Writing
Your will is the grandparent of all estate planning. You can have ten trusts, you can have all your beneficiaries listed alphabetically, and your executioner could be closer than a brother, but don’t neglect having a will. Your will is what gives your executioner any real power. Without a will, consider your estate to be managed by the government. This can be a serious situation when an adult is incapacitated. That paperwork is your family’s ticket to carrying out most of your estate-related decisions. Forget recording yourself on video or cassette tape. Compared to those two options, a will is probably the only thing that a court will consider legitimate.
If you have to pick between a will and a trust, contemplate how many assets you actually want to deal with. A trust is good if you have one particular asset in mind. Wills are better if you need to allocate tons of assets. The safest option for you would be to have multiple trusts to compliment your will and act as backups. Start wherever you feel comfortable.
Minnesota Wills and Trusts Lawyers | Starting Preparation
At the law firm of Flanders Law Firm LLC., you can start preparing for the worst. Whether you’re planning on living to be a hundred or you’re concerned with how many years you have left, now is a perfect time to get your estate in order. Don’t let being incapacitated freeze your assets.
Set up your assets to let them move when you want them to. Use the phone number 612-424-0398 to get in contact with the firm.
An estate planning lawyer will be there to assist you. Whether you have a will already created and you want to edit it, you need a few trusts created, or you want to get everything started from the ground up, someone will be there to get you moving.
A Minnesota law firm focusing on guardianships, probate, estate planning, and family law. The client-focused practice brings years of experience and high-quality legal representation to Minnesota families and businesses. Find out more about Flanders Law Firm, LLC at www.flanderslawfirm.com. Contact the firm at 612-424-0398.
