Plan Your Estate Now - Rest in Peace Later
http://www.pcwomensjournal.com/articles/7840/1/Plan-Your-Estate-Now---Rest-in-Peace-Later/Page1.html
Julie Hall
Julie Hall, known as The Estate Lady, is a professional estate liquidator and certified personal property appraiser. With more than eighteen years experience, she has assisted thousands of individuals in the daunting and often painful process of managing their deceased parents' affairs. Her experience has been sought across the United States and Canada on radio, TV, and newspaper media. http://www.theestatelady.com She has authored a best-selling book titled "THE BOOMER BURDEN: How to Deal With Your Parents' Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff", currently available on http://Amazon.com. With increasing numbers of boomers and older adults across the globe, they are all leaving behind a lot more than their children bargained for. THE BOOMER BURDEN will guide loved ones on how to appropriately handle their parent's belongings while keeping one's sanity...and that is priceless. Her newest book, "A BOOMER'S GUIDE TO CLEANING OUT YOUR PARENTS' ESTATE IN 30 DAYS OR LESS", provides an extremely practical guide for boomer children. Filled with checklists, worksheets, and resources, this book will go with you, providing expert advice. Julie writes a weekly blog which is available at http://estatelady.wordpress.com, called The Estate Lady Speaks. By Julie Hall
Published on 12/15/2011
Perhaps it is in our very nature to avoid having to make estate plans
for fear of facing our own mortality. Or, maybe it's just confusion
about where to begin. But, here are some steps that can help make the
process easier.
Perhaps it is in our very nature to avoid having to make estate plans for fear of facing our own mortality. Or, maybe it's just confusion about where to begin. But, here are some steps that can help make the process easier.
First: Have that conversation with your adult children. Your children don't want to guess at your wishes some day. Chances are they would spend the remainder of their lives wondering if they made the right decisions. Children really need a guidance system from their parents to help them navigate the way, should you become impaired or suddenly pass away.
Talk to your children about your estate. Invite them to request things that have special meaning to them. Prepare a wish list of what each heir would like to have. Then, have a personal property appraiser come in and assign a value to these items. Make your decisions based on equitable distribution.
Let your heirs know you will do your best to be fair, and that they will know exactly what you are leaving to each of them. Taking the mystery out of the process reduces the possibility of conflict and offers peace and appreciation to your children.
Best of all, gift items to your children/heirs while you are still alive. It will help thin out your home, leave little to fight over at the time of your death, and most importantly, you can see the joy on the recipient's face when you hand it to them.
As for the Boomer child, you too need to open up and invite conversation with your parent(s). Start asking questions prior to infirmity, and come from a place of love and compassion. For example, "Mom, Sue and I would like to know what your final wishes are because dad never discussed them. We want to know what these wishes are because we want to fulfill them. Do you have a will, trust, power of attorney? Where are these important papers kept?"
Second: Make an appointment with a local estate planner or elder law attorney to draw up a will or trust. Be aware that the validity of handwritten wills and internet wills are often challenged. An attorney and financial professional can help you get the most from your assets, plan for the future, know all the requirements of taxes, and many other issues so daunting and foreign to most of us.
A professional can also help you decide who will handle your bills, expenses and financial portfolio if something happens to you. This person might be your financial professional, CPA or your child/heir, or power of attorney.
Third: Have a designated location for documents, such as a safe in your home. Have copies of these documents made for the executor. Location of these papers is not the only important thing to remember, however. Along with the documents, keep a list of usernames and passwords. Also, note the location of keys for the safe deposit box, beneficiary information, location of bank accounts and insurance documents, and any other information that will help your loved ones carry out your final wishes and handle affairs in your absence.
Fourth: Make end-of-life decisions. No one should ever have to guess and then live with that guess. It is up to each of us to decide to what extent we want medical personnel to extend our lives. Talk about it with your family and get it in writing.
Fifth: Remember to avoid leaving loved ones to make decisions in a crisis situation, in which they are making rash and hasty decisions. Educate yourself, enlist the help of professionals ahead of time, document everything. Your loved ones might still be in a state of emotional angst, but they will have what they need.
First: Have that conversation with your adult children. Your children don't want to guess at your wishes some day. Chances are they would spend the remainder of their lives wondering if they made the right decisions. Children really need a guidance system from their parents to help them navigate the way, should you become impaired or suddenly pass away.
Talk to your children about your estate. Invite them to request things that have special meaning to them. Prepare a wish list of what each heir would like to have. Then, have a personal property appraiser come in and assign a value to these items. Make your decisions based on equitable distribution.
Let your heirs know you will do your best to be fair, and that they will know exactly what you are leaving to each of them. Taking the mystery out of the process reduces the possibility of conflict and offers peace and appreciation to your children.
Best of all, gift items to your children/heirs while you are still alive. It will help thin out your home, leave little to fight over at the time of your death, and most importantly, you can see the joy on the recipient's face when you hand it to them.
As for the Boomer child, you too need to open up and invite conversation with your parent(s). Start asking questions prior to infirmity, and come from a place of love and compassion. For example, "Mom, Sue and I would like to know what your final wishes are because dad never discussed them. We want to know what these wishes are because we want to fulfill them. Do you have a will, trust, power of attorney? Where are these important papers kept?"
Second: Make an appointment with a local estate planner or elder law attorney to draw up a will or trust. Be aware that the validity of handwritten wills and internet wills are often challenged. An attorney and financial professional can help you get the most from your assets, plan for the future, know all the requirements of taxes, and many other issues so daunting and foreign to most of us.
A professional can also help you decide who will handle your bills, expenses and financial portfolio if something happens to you. This person might be your financial professional, CPA or your child/heir, or power of attorney.
Third: Have a designated location for documents, such as a safe in your home. Have copies of these documents made for the executor. Location of these papers is not the only important thing to remember, however. Along with the documents, keep a list of usernames and passwords. Also, note the location of keys for the safe deposit box, beneficiary information, location of bank accounts and insurance documents, and any other information that will help your loved ones carry out your final wishes and handle affairs in your absence.
Fourth: Make end-of-life decisions. No one should ever have to guess and then live with that guess. It is up to each of us to decide to what extent we want medical personnel to extend our lives. Talk about it with your family and get it in writing.
Fifth: Remember to avoid leaving loved ones to make decisions in a crisis situation, in which they are making rash and hasty decisions. Educate yourself, enlist the help of professionals ahead of time, document everything. Your loved ones might still be in a state of emotional angst, but they will have what they need.