SHANNON VINNICK
Sales Associate/REALTOR®
Realty Executives Oceanside
It may not be pleasant to talk about your estate plan and end-of-life care with your family, but it's necessary to make sure your loved ones are ready to carry out your intentions. Additionally, updating them on any alterations to your estate plan or your choices for long-term care and medical treatment is a good idea by having these conversations frequently (maybe once a year). Everyone will feel more at ease having these kinds of delicate talks if the discussion is more constant.
Here are a few subjects you may wish to bring up with your family from time to time.
Coversations Regarding Estate Planning
Discussions concerning inheritance and legacy tend to be intensely emotional and difficult. However, they can also assist your family in making future plans. It is not a given that your family members will know where your estate documents are kept or what you would like them to do in your absence.
Although sharing your plan's specifics with your family is a personal choice, communicating with them can help you explain the "why" behind your choices. To assist everyone get on the same page and prevent misunderstandings, think about holding a group meeting rather than speaking with family members one-on-one.
Positions and Duties
To make sure the people you've named in your paperwork are comfortable with their tasks, it's crucial to have a conversation with them about their obligations. Give them time to get ready to fulfill your requests and take care of whatever obligations they may have.
If your estate-planning agreements contain a trust, you will designate a trustee to oversee the execution of the trust's provisions, which will involve appropriately investing any trust assets, allocating trust assets in accordance with the rules of the trust, and submitting the necessary tax returns and legal notices. Additionally, you ought to name backup trustees in case the original trustee is unable to fulfill their duties.
The following are some questions to ask yourself when deciding who to name as a trustee or successor trustee:
A health care directive and a power of attorney for financial and medical decisions should also be included in your estate planning documents. You should let the people designated under your powers of attorney know about your estate plans, even if you decide not to tell your relatives. This will allow them to be ready to take legal action on your behalf if needed.
Extended-term Housing and Healthcare Costs
Talk about where you want to go for medical care in the event of an injury or serious sickness with your family and doctor. Do you want to remain at home? If that's not feasible, is there a particular facility you'd rather use? Remember that prices can differ significantly depending on where you stay, so be sure to have enough money or insurance to cover those expenses. It could be a good idea to talk to your financial advisor about whether long-term care insurance is something you should consider.
If you've already made funeral plans, make sure your loved ones have access to the information and paperwork so they can make sure your final wishes are honored. Recall that your family will be better equipped to make the best choices for you if they are aware of your preferences.
Are You Working With a Professional Team?
If yes, think about arranging a meeting for your family and the experts working on your estate plan right away so they may get to know them. Knowing where to go for financial and legal support during emergencies or times of loss could be very helpful to your family.
Creating a plan now and really help your famly down the line, during difficult emotional times.
