Preparing for the Worst
 

Writing a will in your 20s might seem premature.

But even young workers with meager assets should consider preparing a will and other legal documents -- such as a health-care directive and durable power of attorney -- to make sure their personal, financial and medical wishes are met if they become disabled or pass away.

Attorneys and financial planners say you should create, or update, these documents after every major life change -- buying a house, getting married, having children or getting divorced.

"It's not something you write up once and put in a drawer and wait till you die," says G. Scott Haislet, a tax attorney and financial planner in Lafayette, Calif.

Some issues to consider:

Your estate. Having an updated will is the best way to ensure your belongings are split up as you see fit. Say you're married but would still like to leave some assets to your parents or siblings. Without a will, your assets will be distributed according to your state's laws, Mr. Haislet says, and there's a good chance most or all of your estate would go to your spouse.

If you're single without children, parents and siblings are first in line and more remote relatives, such as aunts, uncles and cousins, follow. People with no relatives might see assets go to the state, he says.

Also, don't forget to update the beneficiaries for any life-insurance policies and retirement accounts.

Naming a guardian. A will becomes even more important when you have children because it allows you to name legal guardians for your children. If you don't do so, a court could have final say on who will raise your kids -- and it may not be the people you would have chosen.

Medical decisions. In the case of an accident or medical emergency, you should have a health-care directive, also known as a living will. In it, you can designate someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become physically or mentally unable to make them yourself.

Living wills also allow you to specify if you want doctors to take extreme measures to keep you alive, if you want to be kept on life support -- and under what circumstances.

Be sure to give your doctor and designated guardian a copy of the document.

Managing your finances. A durable power of attorney allows a designated person to manage your financial life if you become incapacitated. Duties would include paying bills, overseeing your financial portfolio and filing tax returns.

If you don't assign a durable power of attorney, someone would have to petition the court to be appointed, a process that takes time and money, says Michael Kay, president of Financial Focus, a financial life-planning firm in Livingston, N.J. "If you're unprepared, the level of complexity goes up substantially, and it just opens the door to do things on the fly."

Preparing the paperwork. Before signing people up to be a guardian or to handle your affairs, make sure they are willing and able to take on the task.

You can hire an attorney to draw up documents, but first research what the documents require, says Michael Eisenberg, a financial planner in Los Angeles.

Or, do it yourself. You can use online legal-document services such as LegalZoom.com, which has packages starting at $69. You also can find free document templates on state Web sites. These documents generally are legally binding if filled out correctly and signed in front of the required number of witnesses. But you should check with your state.


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Re: Preparing for the Worst
 

I don't know how it works in other countries, but in England if you die intestate there is a lot of hassle and legal costs before your estate is divvied up according to set rules.

E.G. For a married person with children:
Spouse gets everything up to �250,000 & personal possessions.
Anything remaining is divided into two:-
Half to the children at 18 or earlier marriage.
Half in trust during spouse's lifetime - he or she gets the income. On spouse's death this half goes to the children.

No known relatives:
Guvmint takes the lot. :bear_angry:

Re: Preparing for the Worst
 

I agree on a living will in case I am unable to speak on my care

But interms of the state getting the lionshare of my inheritence???

:4_1_72::4_1_72::4_1_72::4_1_72:

Yeah Im really worried about probate.

Need a laywer to help me "protect my estate"

Re: Preparing for the Worst
 

Nice pic TA

Re: Preparing for the Worst
 

MNeagle, I couldn't agree more with the need for a will, power of attorney and living will. I'd like to add one more very important document which most people never think about or write. That is a Family "Love" Letter. In this document you can, of course, make your family aware of what you really think of them, and any advice you might want to include. However, the meat of this letter is sharing all the things about important information your family would need to know after your passing.

I'm talking about where YOU have your bank accounts, their account numbers, street address etc. Probably your spouse knows about the accounts but what if he/she becomes incapacitated or dies shortly you do? This information can easily get lost.

Besides bank accounts info what about bank/credit union safety deposit boxes, location where the keys are located. Maybe you don't have everybody in your family as signatories but at least information about there whereabouts would be helpful if having to go to probate. I assume you will have important documents in a safety deposit box to include (but not limited to) car, boat titles, any real estate deeds, life, health, car and house insurance policies (with points of contact names and phone numbers) birth certificates. List any veteran record documents.

How about your stock account(s), their account number, point of contact names and phone numbers. Include any web links to the brokerage firm plus any passwords needed to access these accounts after you are gone. Any bonds or stock certificates should be physically in a safety deposit box. If they are not there list where they are located.

Include any retirement pension, social security information with names, addresses and phone numbers so your family has the means to contact them as necessary after you have died. List where your past year(s) federal and state income tax return information is located. Share the name of your CPA and phone number. The IRS has been known to do an audit soon after someone dies. IF you think life is tough when you are alive think how your family would handle an IRS audit without you with no means of what and where vital tax information is located.

Do you have any bullion, coin/stamp collection or other valuables that may be hidden in some secret location (house safes or map if buried etc) you may have not shared with those that you would want to have access this information after you are dead? Also list any storage units you may have that your family doesn�t know about. Share where the key is to these locations or combination to locks along with the physical address.

Include a list of all your credit card accounts or other debts that you may owe or a list of debts people may owe you and any applicable promissory notes.

Do you have a number of old friends, relatives on YOUR side of the family or email contacts of yours that may not necessarily be known to your family? Would you like these old friends to be at least contacted that you have died? Without some list of names and addresses or phone numbers for your family to do this they may never know what happened to you.

After compiling and putting all this information in MS Word or whatever word processor you chose, burn it to a CD and place it in a safe place your loved ones should be able to reasonably find plus put a copy in your safety deposit box. (I highly suggest making a copy because things can get misplaced in the house, the house could burn etc.)

I agree, it takes a good bit of effort to gather and organize all this information I have listed. I suspect most of you will NOT be able to put a comprehensive letter together in a single weekend. I know it took me months, adding a little more each time I think of something important my family should know about. I could brief my family who my CPA or brokerage company is but do you really think they will really remember it 5 years later?? Update the information as additional items or changes occur.

Bottom line, try to think of your family without you. They can�t ask you a single question after you are gone. Write the answers to all of these important questions for them to make their life easier. If they don�t know about many things you may take for granted they may lose out on any benefits, monetary or otherwise, that you feel is important to share with them. Your family will be most grateful you made the effort while you are among the living to help them when you are no longer with us.

Re: Preparing for the Worst
 

Let's see them tax that!

Hmmm, come to think about it...no wonder they don't like to use gold and silver as wealth...


...the mud elephant....wading through the sea.....leaves no tracks.....

Re: Preparing for the Worst
 

Bigbuber,
Yes thank you so very much for this additional information. We especially need to do this, as most everything is now "online" and my husband has all the account info in his head! We don't even get paper copies any more, so if something were to happen; SWHTF for me.

Thank you again.



ETA: Hubby just informed me he already has a spreadsheet with all the information. Now I just need to print it out & secure it.... Yippee!

Re: Preparing for the Worst
 

Is There a Trap Lurking in the Language of Your Will?

Have you checked your will lately--or your spouse's? If not, there may be a trap lurking in the language that could cause an unintended calamity after death.

Here's why. Since 2001 the federal estate tax exemption has stepped up from $675,000 to its current level of $3.5 million per individual or, with planning, $7 million per couple.

Customarily, lawyers have put a "credit shelter" or "bypass" trust provision into the will of each partner in a married couple. This allows the couple to take full advantage of both individual exemptions. At the death of the first spouse, some assets go into a bypass trust that the other can draw on if necessary. These assets escape tax at the second spouse's death and pass directly to heirs.

When the estate tax exemption was $2 million and below, bypass trusts were especially important to those who were affluent but not hugely wealthy. Used properly, they helped shelter the greater part of a couple's assets from estate tax. If each spouse instead left all his or her assets outright to the other, in many cases the value of one exemption was lost and unnecessary taxes had to be paid upon the death of the second spouse.

The current trap mainly affects those couples who benefited most from bypass trusts in the past—those with up to, say, $4 million in assets. The problem lies in the wording of many wills drafted even a few years ago, which often directs that the "full amount" of the estate tax exemption go into the bypass trust when the first spouse dies. If the language of the will hasn't changed while the exemption has grown, the bulk of a couple's assets could in some cases wind up in a bypass trust after the death of the first spouse, leaving the survivor with little or nothing outright.

(For example: Say a couple with $4.5 million of assets made wills in 2002, when the exemption was $1 million. At the time, the wife's share consisted of their $750,000 home and $250,000 in other assets, with the rest belonging to her husband. The will's language directs the full exemption amount into a trust at his death, with the income to the spouse for life and the remainder to heirs—which, if he died in 2002, meant $1 million would go into the bypass trust, and $2.5 million would transfer to his wife. But if he dies in 2009 or 2010—assuming the exemption remains at $3.5 million—she would get nothing outright. All of his assets would go directly to the bypass trust.)

In a few cases the worst has already happened. Veteran estate planner Sidney Kess, a New York attorney, points to a family where the husband signed a will in 2000 leaving the "full exemption" amount in trust for his children and the rest of his estate to his wife, thinking this would split his $2 million estate down the middle. When he died in 2008 without updating the will, the exemption had risen to $2 million, so the bulk of the estate bypassed the wife. She was left only with the house and some cash of her own. This has affected family dynamics, says Kess: "The children want her to sell the house. She doesn't want to, but it's harder to say no."

In blended families the results can be stark. California attorney Jacqueline Patterson, an attorney with Haney, Buchanan & Patterson in Los Angeles, cites a recent case where a young widow received almost nothing after her much older husband neglected to update his will. "Most of his assets went into a bypass trust for his children by his first wife, who were not about to share anything with their father's second wife," she says.

Patterson says this is one of many reasons it's crucial to have your will reviewed every few years, especially if there is a significant event in your life or the law changes. "Making a fix doesn't have to be expensive," she says. "People should not think of writing a will as something to do once and then forget."


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...ersonalfinance