Six Key Steps for Making Your Estate Plan

If you have assets that you have worked hard to acquire, and loved ones you wish to support when you are no longer around, you want to ensure you have the best possible Estate Plan established to safeguard them. If you are still thinking about how to devise an effective plan for your estate, or don’t even know where to begin, start with these basic steps and considerations.

Draft a Will or Trust

The core document in the average Estate Plan is a Will. This legal instrument lays out whom you want to inherit your assets, appoints someone to serve as your personal representative to oversee the winding down of your estate, and names a guardian to care for your minor dependents if you or the other parent is no longer around.

Alternatively, you can consider holding your property in a Florida Living Trust, which, among other advantages, allows you to distribute assets to your loved ones without them having to go through probate (a time-consuming and sometimes costly process wherein a probate court supervises the administration of your estate).

Whether a Will or Trust is best for your estate depends largely on your goals and circumstances. Our attorneys who specialize in probate and estate planning can advise you on the best course of action and can draft whichever legal document is in your best interests.

Make a Health Care Advance Directive

If a medical emergency incapacitates you or renders you unable to make sound decisions, you will want to have a Health Care Advance Directive. This is a written statement in which you set forth instructions on the sort of medical care you want to receive (a Living Will) and/or designate another individual to make treatment decisions on your behalf (Health Care Surrogate Designation). It can also include an anatomical donation, which indicates your wish to donate all or part of your body after death.

Although a Health Care Advance Directive is not required in Florida, keep in mind that without one, the court will appoint a guardian for you, usually by order of succession (from spouse to an adult child to parents, etc.). Even your closest loved ones may not know your exact wishes, so it is best to plan ahead and devise a clear guideline of your intentions should the worst case scenario occur without warning. It is highly advisable that you work with an attorney to ensure that your directive is in accordance with your desires and is as effective and clear as possible.

Set up a Durable Power Of Attorney

While you are medically incapacitated, there will still be financial matters that must be attended to. A Durable Power of Attorney is a legal document in which you give an individual or organization – known as your agent or attorney-in-fact – the authority to handle your legal, financial, and property matters on your behalf when you cannot do so.

As with a Health Care Advance Directive, this will ensure that unexpected accidents or medical problems do not derail the integrity of your assets. Contrary to what its name suggests, the person you choose as attorney-in-fact does not have to be a legal professional, although you should be careful to select someone whose judgment and integrity you trust.

Protect Your Dependents

If you have minor children that depend on you for financial support, you likely intend to leave them with money and property to support them when you are gone. However, to ensure that these assets are managed properly and to their optimal benefit, you should name a trustworthy adult that can administer these funds in a manner you decide.

For example, you can set aside a certain amount of money to be disbursed only for college, or instruct the appointed guardian to release only a certain amount of funds at a time to make sure it is used responsibly. The person you choose can be the same one you have named in your Will as a guardian or personal representative.

Make Beneficiary and TOD Forms

Most bank accounts and retirement plans give you the option of naming a beneficiary to whom funds will be payable upon your death. This avoids the probate process, ensuring your loved ones get their assets timely. Florida also allows you to register stocks, bonds, and brokerage accounts in “Transfer On Death” forms, which will similarly transfer funds directly to the beneficiary when you pass away.

Carefully Store All Pertinent Documents

As you may have noticed, most of your Estate Plan hinges on physical forms and documents. If any of them goes missing, your personal representative, guardian, or attorney-in-fact will have a difficult time carrying out your wishes. Given the sensitive financial and legal stakes involved, courts are very strict about requiring written proof and documentation of matters related to your Estate, including the Will, Trust Agreement, insurance policy, deeds, certificates of stocks and bonds, bank statements, and anything else related to your finances (including debts, credit statements, etc.).

To expedite the process of distributing your assets and ensure no claims or disputes arise due to missing or conflicting information, keep all these documents in a safe and secure place, and make sure that your personal representative and anyone else you have named to carry out your plan is given knowledge and access to them.

These are just a few of the steps and preparations needed for an effective Estate Plan. No two individuals have the same financial, legal, and personal circumstances influencing their decisions, so every Estate Plan requires personalized legal solutions and guidance. The attorneys at Jurado & Farshchian are as familiar with estate and probate law as they are with the needs of each individual client.

To schedule a consultation and begin devising your Estate Plan, contact 305-921-0440 or email [email protected].

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