Estate Planning is for Children Too

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Do you know that when your children reach 18 years old, you will no longer be allowed to make medical decisions for them?  Actually, your right to see their medical records or speak to their doctor is no longer compulsory enforced.

Any parent has a fear of hearing that their child was involved in a medical emergency - whether it’s a physical catastrophe or a car accident, they would usually be notified or rushed into action.  However, under the law, your own 18-year old and above children need to name you as a health-care proxy first before you can have anything to say about their medical treatment.

Health-care proxies are documents allowing you to assign another person to make medical decisions for you if you’re unable to do it yourself.  Another document, called the living will, is a statement of medical wishes if you become ill.

Therefore, estate planning is not only for seniors.  Adult children should also have durable power of attorney as well as a health-care proxy too.  Since these are complicated documents, it’s best to speak to your family attorney.  If you don’t have one, just seek advice from any qualified estate planning attorney in your state.

Tags: adult, attorney, children, documents, Estate Planning, health-care proxy, law, living will, medical, parent, seniors, will
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Ensure your Preferred Medical Care

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

The main problem with estate plans today is that they don’t have any documents for health care.  Another serious problem is that they don’t understand the documents they have, or worse, they have the wrong documents.  Here are some documents you need to make sure that your wishes are followed:

• *Living Will - very simple to execute as most states recognize living wills officially.  The idea behind this is to avoid certain levels or types of care (also known as “heroic measures”) in different circumstances.  A very simple living will would state “I don’t want to prolong my life through any artificial means if I contracted a terminal illness with no hope for recovery.”  Although following this statement may result to a debate (since there is no exact definition of a terminal illness), it’s still necessary to guide your relatives on what to do when you’re brain dead or in a vegetative state.
• *Do not hospitalize/resuscitate order - DNH and DNR orders are common for older people in frail conditions, most especially those in nursing homes.  These people preferred to be in the comfort of their homes rather than pass away in a hospital.
• *Power of attorney/health care proxy - a document that appoints a person or several people to make the medical decisions when they’re unable to do so.

Tags: DNH, DNR, documents, health care, health-care proxy, living will, plans, power of attorney
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What is Estate Planning?

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

It’s important to have an “estate plan” in place no matter how much your net worth is.  Such plan will ensure that your financial goals are met and your family gets your assets after you pass away.

Several elements of an estate plan include: a will, living will or a health-care proxy (sometimes called medical power of attorney), and power of attorney assignment.  For some people, it would also make sense to have a “trust.”  However, you have to be mindful of both state and federal laws governing estates.  That is why it’s important to consult an attorney for your estate planning.

A good place to start is to take inventory of your assets.  These consist of your business interests, real estate properties, insurance policies, retirement savings, and other investments.  Answer these three questions?

1. 1. Who will inherit your assets?
2. 2. If ever you’re incapacitated, who do you want to handle your financial affairs?
3. 3. If you’re unable to make decisions yourself, who do you want to make medical decisions for you?

Remember that everybody needs an estate plan and it’s not just for the wealthy.  Inheritance can sometimes be a loaded issue.  So by being clear on your intentions, you can help dispel potential conflicts when you’re gone.

Tags: assets, attorney, estate plan, health-care proxy, inheritance, laws, living will, power of attorney, trust, will
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