A living will helps a person prepare for a time in which they are suffering from a terminal condition. These conversations are difficult and emotional for families, however, it is necessary to have them during a time in which an illness or crisis is not occurring.
Estate Planning
Many of our Estate Planning seek methods to help their family members become financially stable. A popular tool to minimize the tax implications, is to provide money to your loved one with an “intra-family loan.”
After a person dies, his or her real property may need to be sold or transferred to a beneficiary of the person’s estate. Real property includes homes, plots of land, or condominiums.
A Power of Attorney for Property document is a very helpful and very effective estate planning tool. You are able to name a person who can act for you in business and financial affairs.
In reality, many people think that a will is not necessary unless one has extreme wealth. However, a will can be useful if you have young children, and little assets, because you are able to nominate a guardian for your children.
The small estate affidavit is a useful tool to transfer property after someone dies. It allows for the transfer of a decedent’s assets without the need to open a probate estate.
Advance directives are an essential part of estate planning. An advance directive is a document that spells out your wishes for the time period in which you are unable to make your own personal, financial, and health decisions
A “Durable Power of Attorney” will stay in effect even after the principal is incapacitated. The durable power of attorney ends only after the principal dies.
While you are in the process of planning your estate, you will hear certain terms spoken by your estate planning lawyer or see it referenced in legal documentation.
There isn’t anything that slows down probate more than a pending lawsuit. Probate makes sure that all of the loose ends are tied up in a deceased’s life.