Estate Planning Lawyers in Sarasota

What Is Needed to Prepare An Estate Plan?

In order to set up an estate plan you will need to arrange documents for the transfer of your estate and assets after your passing. Assets include but not limited to clothing, money, homes, cars, property, investments and savings accounts.

An effective estate plan will include the following documents:

• Will: A document that includes your wishes for your estate and your child’s care
• Trust: A document so your family does not go through the probate process
• Health Care Directions: A document that includes your wishes when you are incapacitated
• Power of Attorney: A document that gives a trusted person full control over your finances when you can not
• Beneficiary Forms: A document that names beneficiaries of your assets/estate and allows them to not go through probate
• Life Insurance: Having a life insurance policy set up will allow the burden of high estate taxes more manageable
• Funeral Costs: You can create a payable-on-death account and put in money to pay for your funeral and other costs
• Business Succession: A document that makes sure your business is taken care of

We understand that estate planning can be perplexing, our Sarasota estate planning attorney at Advocates in Aging is here to help guide you through the process in order to have a strong estate plan set up. Give us a call today to schedule a consultation.

Basic Components of a Comprehensive Estate Plan:

Asset Distribution

The most common type of document in an estate plan is a will. This outlines what is going to happen to your assets upon your passing. You are able to put conditions on your assets before they are distributed and who gets to receive any of your property. Parents are able to name guardians for their children in their wills. You can even provide to your animals in your will. An executor will also be named to carry out the closure of the estate.

An Advanced Medical Directive

In the event you become incapacitated or cannot communicate, a healthcare directive appoints someone to be able to make medical decisions for you. Healthcare directives also map out how you would like to be taken care of in the event of a medical emergency, stating what life-saving actions you want to decide on.

Power of Attorney

Someone who is able to make financial decisions for you is called a power of attorney. This person can take care of your taxes, bills, and look after your finances. Preventing the need for guardianship is another perk to having a power of attorney designated.

Transferring Assets to a Trust

Protecting the privacy of the estate and helping to avoid probate is why you would want to have a trust in place. A trustee is put in place to manage the trust and make sure the assets are distributed properly. Revocable trusts hold your assets and allow them to be transferred back to you. Once you pass however, the trust becomes irrevocable. Assets cannot go back to the grantor and they are no longer recognized as the owner in an irrevocable trust. Your assets are typically protected from nursing homes when using an irrevocable trust.

Benefits of Estate Planning

Having a well thought out estate plan really helps out your family's ability to make life-altering decisions if you were unable to. Having a health care directive and power of attorney documents in place enables people to step in and handle your duties if you cannot. If you don’t have an estate plan, the State of Florida will decide where your assets will be distributed.