Includes: Last Will and Testament*, Durable Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney, HIPAA Authorization, Living Will or Directive to Physicians, Appointment of Guardian (if necessary), Beneficiary Designation Instructions, detailed instructions on how to sign your documents in compliance with the Texas Statutes, and a periodic “peace of mind” review.
By going through the planning process and acting today my client’s family to handle those situations, the client, and their family, can anticipate the future. What is the value of being able to avoid risks and take advantage of opportunities? May times what my fees are. So, the fees paid to me today that avoids substantial risk to yourself and your family is worth every cent.
You may want to state whether you want CPR or shock equipment used on you if you go into cardiac arrest, as well as if you would like antibiotics or antivirals to treat infections, among other end-of-life wishes pertaining to health care. For instance, you may want to discuss palliative care, a type of medicine that promotes compassionate comfort care for people in a serious or life-limiting illness. It's a little different than hospice care, which is also a form of compassionate care, but at a time when the patient is considered to be at the end of his or her life.
"The best people to turn to are those who have seen many iterations of living wills and have seen what works and what doesn't work. In other words, estate planners and doctors are in the best position to help you think through your choices and to understand how those choices could play out in real life," says Kimberly Hanlon, an attorney for Lucēre Legal LLC, a small business and estate law firm in Minneapolis.
The only legal requirements to be an agent are that the person is of sound mind and at least eighteen years of age. Your agent must be someone whom you trust. Your agent has the legal obligation to act in your best interest, to keep records of transactions, not to mix your property with his, and not to engage in any conflict of interest. However, an agent still has the potential to act unlawfully, so it is important to trust the person you select.
In a widely publicized account,[79] Michelle Brown, a victim of identity fraud, testified before a U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on Identity Theft. Ms. Brown testified that: "over a year and a half from January 1998 through July 1999, one individual impersonated me to procure over $50,000 in goods and services. Not only did she damage my credit, but she escalated her crimes to a level that I never truly expected: she engaged in drug trafficking. The crime resulted in my erroneous arrest record, a warrant out for my arrest, and eventually, a prison record when she was booked under my name as an inmate in the Chicago Federal Prison."
There are several very low costs, or even free, online services available to draft documents commonly used during estate planning, such as wills, trust, durable powers of attorney and healthcare proxies. These online services, as presented, seem to be a very good alternative for most people. So, are the benefits of using an estate planning advisor is not worth the expense?
Estate planning is an ongoing process and should be started as soon as an individual has any measurable asset base. As life progresses and goals shift, the estate plan should shift in line with new goals. Lack of adequate estate planning can cause undue financial burdens to loved ones (estate taxes can run as high as 40%), so at the very least a will should be set up—even if the taxable estate is not large.
· I do not expect that my wife and my children will die before I do, but it is possible. If any grandchildren are under the age of 18, any assets will not go to them but rather to a guardian appointed by the Court until they are 18. The fact that my grandchildren might inherit from me but be underage means that my assets may be diverted into the hands of a random guardian appointed by the Court.
In financial situations wherein a principal requests a securities broker to perform extensive investment functions on the principal's behalf, independent of the principal's advice, power of attorney must be formally granted to the broker to trade in the principal's account. This rule also applies to principals who instruct their brokers to perform certain specific trades and principals who trust their brokers to perform certain trades in the principal's best interest.[citation needed]
One of the major identity theft categories is tax identity theft. The most common method is to use a person's authentic name, address, and Social Security Number to file a tax return with false information, and have the resulting refund direct-deposited into a bank account controlled by the thief. The thief in this case can also try to get a job and then their employer will report the income of the real taxpayer, this then results in the taxpayer getting in trouble with the IRS.[23]
Under English law (which extends to Wales but not to Northern Ireland or Scotland), the deception offences under the Theft Act 1968 increasingly contend with identity theft situations. In R v Seward (2005) EWCA Crim 1941[49] the defendant was acting as the "front man" in the use of stolen credit cards and other documents to obtain goods. He obtained goods to the value of £10,000 for others who are unlikely ever to be identified. The Court of Appeal considered a sentencing policy for deception offenses involving "identity theft" and concluded that a prison sentence was required. Henriques J. said at para 14:"Identity fraud is a particularly pernicious and prevalent form of dishonesty calling for, in our judgment, deterrent sentences."
None of these situations are guaranteed to occur, but they are also not utterly improbable either. Once anticipated as a possible future situation, there are actions I can take such as changing beneficiary designations, providing that assets are protected for children or grandchildren who need that protection and to getting, or replacing, the value of my practice to my wife and children at my death with insurance. Some of these actions are documents, but some are not. In either event, for my clients in similar situations, using a basic will may save them some money today, but will not prompt them to anticipate the future. By not planning, they cannot avoid risking the loss of their assets during the administration of their estates.
If you've changed jobs over the years, it's quite likely that you have several different 401(k) retirement plans still open with past employers or maybe even several different IRA accounts. You may want to consider consolidating these accounts into one individual IRA. Consolidating of accounts allows for better investment choices, lower costs, a larger selection of investments, less paperwork, and easier management.
Estate planning is an ongoing process and should be started as soon as an individual has any measurable asset base. As life progresses and goals shift, the estate plan should shift in line with new goals. Lack of adequate estate planning can cause undue financial burdens to loved ones (estate taxes can run as high as 40%), so at the very least a will should be set up—even if the taxable estate is not large.
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