{"id":193,"date":"2016-11-04T21:45:48","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/family-law\/?p=193"},"modified":"2016-11-04T21:45:48","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:45:48","slug":"estate-planning-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/04\/estate-planning-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Estate Planning Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<strong>Estate Planning Basics: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>There are many questions surrounding creating an estate plan.\u00a0 A well-formed estate plan has many aspects to it, and does not just cover what happens to your savings and house when you die.\u00a0 Many considerations should be taken into account when planning your estate, and you should plan for both your passing and potential incapacity.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Trust or Will? <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the most common questions we are asked for estate planning is \u201cShould I have a trust or a will?\u201d\u00a0 <strong>A will<\/strong> is a legal document that directs who will receive your property on your death and also appoints a \u201cpersonal representative\u201d that will carry out your wishes.\u00a0 The process of distributing your property is court supervised and is also called \u201cprobate\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>A trust<\/strong> is also a legal document, often longer and more complex than a will that operates to distribute your property before death, at your death, and even can control your property well after you pass.<\/p>\n<p>A Here are some main differences between a will and a trust.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Avoiding Probate: <\/strong>One of the biggest advantages of a trust over a will is that it avoids probate, the court supervised process of distributing property of a deceased person.\u00a0 This can be costly and time consuming.\u00a0 Furthermore, probate is a <strong>public <\/strong>process and filed with the court, whereas administration of a trust is private.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Appointment of Guardian: <\/strong>\u00a0A trust alone cannot appoint a guardian for children, whereas a will can do that.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Estate Taxes: <\/strong>\u00a0In some cases, a trust can help avoid estate taxes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, a good estate plan may involve both a trust <strong>and <\/strong>will, to gain the advantages of both.\u00a0 In particular, many people choose a Living Trust and a \u201cpour over will\u201d to ensure many aspects are covered.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Planning for Incapacity <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are several documents that are crucial to planning for your incapacity.\u00a0 You need to consider who might make <strong>medical decisions <\/strong>and also <strong>financial decisions <\/strong>in case you are unable. \u00a0The important thing about these documents is that you must create them <em>before <\/em>you become incapacitated otherwise they won\u2019t be legally valid.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Power of Attorney: <\/strong>A power of attorney is a document that allows another person to make any financial decisions you set out in advance, including paying bills and taxes and making necessary payments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Advance Directive and Living Will: <\/strong>These documents allow another person to make health care decisions and also allow someone else to make decisions regarding life support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>HIPAA Authorization:<\/strong> \u00a0This document is about giving another person authorization to talk to your doctors about your conditions.\u00a0 It is a vital part of your estate plan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you have an estate plan?\u00a0 Do you need to review yours?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is important to create an estate plan to cover both your property, but also to create a plan if you become incapacitated.\u00a0 Also, even if you have created an estate plan, it is wise to occasionally review your plan with an attorney to ensure it meets your needs.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Estate Planning Basics: \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are many questions surrounding creating an estate plan.\u00a0 A well-formed estate plan has many aspects to it, and does not just cover what happens to your savings and house when you die.\u00a0 Many considerations should be taken into account when planning your estate, and you should plan for both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-estate-planning","7":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/corey-law.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}