When it comes to estate planning, you may automatically think about taking legal steps to ensure the right people inherit your belongings when you’re gone. Although that thought is not wrong, it does leave out a very important aspect, and that is planning for life. Planning for life is perhaps the most critical part of estate planning.
Simply planning with a Will is not enough because it focuses solely on who gets what when you’re gone and ignores the fact that death isn’t the only thing you must prepare for. You need to consider that at some point you may lose capacity from an accident or illness. Whether we want to think about it or not, a devastating accident or disease can prevent us from caring for ourselves or our loved ones. Planning for incapacity is so important because incapacity comes with an uncertain outcome and timeframe.
Where To Start
Planning for incapacity requires a different mindset and different legal documents. The most important thing to remember is that you must choose someone and include them in legal documents. If you don’t legally name someone to make medical and financial decisions during your incapacity, the court will choose someone for you.
The person a court chooses could be a family member you’d never want managing your affairs, or a professional guardian who charges exorbitant fees, who could even potentially decimate your estate. Either way, without the right legal documents, the choice is out of your hands. As with most court proceedings, the process of naming a guardian is difficult, often time-consuming, and very expensive.
The Proper Tools For The Job
There are multiple planning vehicles to choose from when creating an incapacity plan. This shouldn’t be just a single document. Though the planning strategies you ultimately put in place will be based on your particular circumstances, your incapacity plan will include some, or all, of the following:
Health Care Proxy/ Living Will: Advanced directives that grant an individual of your choice the immediate legal authority to make decisions about your medical decisions and treatment in the event of your incapacity. They could be prepared to include a Rav for guidance your appointees may need.
Durable financial power of attorney: A planning document that grants an individual of your choice the immediate legal authority to make decisions related to the management of your finances, real estate, and business interests, and is effective during your lifetime if you cannot manage yourself.
Revocable living trust: A planning document that immediately transfers control of all assets held by the Trust to a person of your choosing to be used for your benefit in the event of your incapacity. The trust can include legally binding instructions for your care and how to determine incapacity.
If you are looking to prepare these documents with counsel and guidance by a personal lawyer who knows what’s important to you, knows how to locate your assets, and who can guide your family when they don’t know where to turn Call 718.514.7575 right away and schedule your Family Estate Planning Session and get started.
Monet Binder, Esq., has her practice in Queens, dedicated to protecting families, their legacies, and values. All halachic documents are approved by the Bais Havaad Halacha Center in Lakewood, under the direction of Rabbi Dovid Grossman and the guidance of Harav Shmuel Kaminetsky, shlita, as well as other leading halachic authorities. To learn more about how a power of attorney can help you, you can send her an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 718-514-7575.
