The word “portfolio” has many meanings, and it can be applied to a person’s estate planning choices. If you don’t have estate planning essentials in your name, now is the moment to invest in the careful collection and naming of your assets and personal directives. Now is the time to build a new portfolio.
Common Estate Planning Essentials
Your financial advisor has helped you with financial planning, investment management, retirement planning, risk management, and more. Rely on them to aid you in the creation of estate planning essentials. These several important documents must be created and verified to clearly state a person’s wishes about how their wealth and property will be divided and how their well-being will be addressed in case of their incapacitation or death. Documents such as:
- Last Will and Testament: A last will and testament is the foundation of estate planning essentials and includes the details about how you expect major decision to be managed upon your death. The document names heirs, a trustee, guardians for minor children, an executor of the will, and any specific bequests, from who you want to inherit jewelry to who you want to take care of your beloved pets.
- Living Trust: A revocable living trust is the most common form of a living trust – an irrevocable trust is the other option and the designation affects the documents flexibility and the taxation of the trust’s assets. Through the establishment of a living trust, an individual and their family can avoid probate, rely on a trustee, and ensure the immediate distribution of assets. Privacy and control will be maintained and this document can evolve over time – a living document – depending on your health and finances.
- Healthcare Directive: A healthcare directive is also known as an advance medical direction and this document addresses a person’s end-of-life medical care. Wishes are put in writing, indicating what types of medical treatment you do or do not prefer at the end, such as organ donation or a do not resuscitate (DNR). Through this direction, you identify a medical power of attorney, a loved one who serves as your representative and is trusted to make major medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself.
- Power of Attorney: It is common to find a power of attorney in estate planning essentials, a document that authorizes one person to act on your behalf and make decisions for you on private, medical, business, or financial matters. There are different types of power of attorney documents including durable, non-durable, medical, limited, and general.
Establish Your New Portfolio for Estate Planning
It is always the right time to turn to your financial advisor for help with estate planning essentials. As your family grows and changes, as your financial position shifts, and as your health may fluctuate, you can always make changes that suit your wishes. What’s most important is knowing that you can rest easy because the people you care about most are taken care of thanks to your estate planning efforts.
Establish your estate planning essentials with help from the experts at Hollander Lone Maxbauer n Southfield, MI. Schedule a consultation.
