Estate Planning
Prevents Your Assets from Ending Up With Unintended Beneficiaries
A main component of estate planning is designating heirs for your assets, whether it is your home, savings or cherished keep sakes. Without an estate plan, the courts will often decide who gets your assets, a process that can take years and can get ugly. After all, a court doesn’t know which sibling has been responsible and which one shouldn’t have free access to cash.
Protects Families with Young Children
Nobody thinks of dying young, but if you're the parent of children under 18, you need to prepare for the unthinkable. This is where the will portion of an estate plan comes in. In order to ensure that your children are taken care of, in a manner that you approve of, you'll want to name their guardians in the event when both parents die before the children turn 18. Without such a will, the courts will again step in.
Eliminates Family Messes When You're Gone
We’ve all heard those horror stories that when someone with money dies, the warring between family members begins. One sibling may think he or she deserves more than another, or one sibling may think that she should be in charge of the finances even though she's notorious for racking up debt. Such squabbling can get ugly and end up in court, with family members pitted against each other. It's yet another reason why an estate plan is necessary. This will enable you to choose who controls your finances and assets if you become mentally incapacitated or after you die, and it will go a long way towards quelling any family strife and ensuring that your assets are handled in the way that you intend them to be.
Enduring Power of Attorney
An Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document where you appoint another person or persons to manage your affairs, including both financial and personal as well as health decisions while you are alive.
An Enduring Power of Attorney can commence immediately for financial affairs so that your lawyer can deal with your financial affairs straight away or at a pre-determined time in the future. This may be important if you go overseas or you want to enjoy your retirement years without having to deal with paying the bills.
Alternatively, the power in the document can start on you losing capacity (this is most common). Losing capacity can be either temporary or permanent. You can lose capacity in a number of ways but some examples are as follows: dementia; Alzheimer’s Disease; car accidents; workplace accidents; illnesses; psychiatric illnesses; during medical operations; being in a coma.
If you have an Enduring Power of Attorney, you have the peace of mind knowing that your affairs will be managed by someone that you choose and trust.
An Enduring Power of Attorney can commence immediately for financial affairs so that your lawyer can deal with your financial affairs straight away or at a pre-determined time in the future. This may be important if you go overseas or you want to enjoy your retirement years without having to deal with paying the bills.
Alternatively, the power in the document can start on you losing capacity (this is most common). Losing capacity can be either temporary or permanent. You can lose capacity in a number of ways but some examples are as follows: dementia; Alzheimer’s Disease; car accidents; workplace accidents; illnesses; psychiatric illnesses; during medical operations; being in a coma.
If you have an Enduring Power of Attorney, you have the peace of mind knowing that your affairs will be managed by someone that you choose and trust.
