Throughout the course of your life, you find that you accumulate assets and wealth that you need to retain control of or designate a trusted individual to take care of them on your behalf. The same goes for your health directives, so you can live the life you wish without undue interference. Your best course of action to protect yourself is to create legally binding documents with the help of an elder law attorney who can help you with estate planning and other issues you face as you age.
Why You Should Engage in Estate Planning
As you age, you start encountering certain considerations that include designating a trusted individual to carry out your wishes if you're incapacitated, delineating how you want your estate to be handled under certain circumstances, and protecting yourself from unscrupulous actors. There are a number of situations you can find yourself in as you reach your later years, which makes legal documentation a must-have to cover as many contingencies as possible.
Estate planning is an umbrella term that's used to cover the various legal documents that lay out your wishes, intentions, and dispositions. They include everything from designating power of attorney to long-term care planning and more. You can start your estate planning as soon as you're a legal adult and change your directives as you age, but you should definitely engage in it if you've built up a significant estate at any point in your life.
How Planning Your Estate Protects You and Your Assets
During your lifetime, you develop a certain way of handling your affairs and form plans for what, how, and who will take care of you in times of need, who will settle your estate, and who's to receive what. In order for these actions to be done in the way you wish, you need to lay them out clearly and in a way that can't be disputed. There are various legal instruments that you can utilize and craft, and rely on them to enforce your needs and wishes when you're unable to.
It's true that you can do this without the help of an attorney, but it's easy to overlook vital aspects that can affect the enforceability of your documents. Working with an elder law lawyer helps you avoid mistakes that can be exploited when you're least able to defend yourself. The end result is a set of legal instruments that can't easily be argued against, nor can claims of being of unsound mind stand up in court.
The Benefits of Planning Your Estate
There's no denying the fact that estate planning is a lot of work, but the effort is worth making because of all the contingencies it covers. You can create directives, wills, and trusts, and appoint people to take care of things when you can't. Some of the things you can plan for include:
- Powers of attorney
- Medicaid
- Crisis situations
- Living wills
- Long-term care
- Life care
- And more.
The types of documents you need to cover these and other contingencies depend on your current and anticipated needs. If you feel that you may find yourself in long-term care at some point, you'll want to plan for that eventuality. For situations where you can't take care of yourself, designating one or more people as power of attorney gives them the ability to make medical and financial decisions on your behalf until you're back to normal. Ultimately, estate planning helps you avoid unpleasant situations and prevents laws from affecting your care and your estate.
The ultimate benefit to planning your estate is the knowledge that you're protected from adverse events when you're unable to advocate for yourself. Your legal documents, when properly drawn up by a lawyer, prevent others from putting their interests above yours. The person you trust to carry out your directives is legally bound to do as you say, and any deviation can result in legal action being brought against them. All of this may seem harsh on the surface, but they exist to make sure people act honestly and follow the plans you've laid out.
Contact Us at the Miller Law Firm, PC, to Learn More About Estate Planning Today
Everyone's situation and needs are unique, and you need to ensure that your plans cover all the aspects that are important to you. At the Miller Law Firm, we can help you with the various aspects of estate planning to help you overcome the issues that can arise with aging. Attorney Steven Miller has a passion for helping elders protect their legal interests and goes the distance to make sure you understand the reasons why you should engage in estate planning. Give us a call today at 855-936-3886 to set up a consultation, get your questions answered, and get peace of mind knowing that your wishes and intentions are legally protected, or set up a consultation.