• Beneficiary designations. These are the forms you fill out when you do things like open a bank or stock brokerage account, establish an IRA or other type of retirement plan, or purchase a commercial annuity or life insurance policy. They specify who will receive whatever remains upon your passing( or the death benefit in the case of life insurance).
• Form of ownership. Jointly owned property that is“ jointly owned with right of survivorship” passes directly to the surviving joint owner regardless of what the will or living trust might provide. This is most often seen with real estate but can involve other types of property as well. If you live in a community property state, your half of the community property will pass automatically to your spouse. These latter two means of passing property can have a profound impact on how your overall estate is distributed and should be considered as part of any coordinated plan.
Provide for physical and mental incapacity
• Power of Attorney( POA) for financial matters. This document grants to someone you trust the ability to act on your behalf for a variety of potential transactions and responsibilities. When the POA becomes effective, the extent of the authority granted can be tailored to your particular desires.
• Power of Attorney for healthcare decisions. This document appoints someone to make decisions for you regarding medical treatment if you are not able to do so. It allows you to specify who is in charge of making critical treatment decisions and, perhaps more important, who does not have that authority.
• Health Care Directive. Sometimes referred to as an“ advance directive” or“ living will”( not to be confused with a living trust), this specifies the type of end-of-life treatment you want to receive. It is a directive to the physicians treating you and for the person holding your Health Care Power of Attorney.
• Physician’ s Order for Life Sustaining Treatment( POLST). This allows for your doctor, working with you, to document for the benefit of healthcare providers your wishes regarding resuscitation and other life-sustaining procedures.
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Steps to having an estate plan
Depending on your situation, creating an estate plan doesn’ t have to be overly difficult or expensive. Here are some practical steps to get you started:
1. Take inventory of what you own. List all of your assets and their approximate value. Include pertinent information about that asset.
2. Make a list of tangible personal property such as jewelry, dishes, books, furniture— items other than real estate and investments— and who is to receive each item upon your passing. You may want to maintain this as a separate list rather than designating this in your will, for maximum flexibility.
3. Think about your goals for your estate plan, for example, whom you want to benefit, how you want to treat each of your children, any special needs that you want to provide for, what happens if you and your spouse both pass away close in time, and if there are charities or organizations you want to remember. Your attorney will most likely ask you about goals you didn’ t consider, but at least you’ ll have a head start on those that are most top-of-mind.
4. Consider whom you would like to name as your agents, e. g., the executor of your will, the trustee of your trust, and the person to hold your power( s) of attorney, and gather pertinent information about them.