The time to get your affairs in order isn’t during an emergency. As we age, proper legal documentation will help to ensure our needs are met, our wishes are honored, and our affairs are in order. The time to specify your plans and wishes is now, when you are of sound mind and body. While it’s not the most pleasant topic to discuss, older adults often discover it’s a relief to have everything sorted out, and their adult children will be grateful to know that they won’t have to guess what Mom or Dad wanted to happen in the event of an emergency.
Important documents to consider
1. Medical Directive
This document, which is also known as an “advance directive,” is extremely important should you become seriously ill or incapacitated. The directive specifies the extent of care you wish to receive. Some individuals, for example, prefer not to pursue heroic measures to save their life or to be kept alive on artificial support. Your medical directive will address details such as whether you want artificial support from a ventilator to help you breathe or a feeding tube. This provides clarity, comfort and guidance to family members, and protects them from a lifetime of doubt about whether they did the right thing.
2. Power of Attorney
- For Healthcare – While the medical directive outlines what we want to happen with our care, a medical power of attorney gives the person we designate the authority to ensure those wishes are carried out. By appointing someone with the power to make healthcare decisions on your behalf, actions can be made quickly and confidently should you become unable to make them yourself. Otherwise, they may be required to petition probate court to be appointed as a conservator, which can be a slow and very costly process.
- For Finances – A financial power of attorney allows a designated person to oversee an incapacitated loved one’s financial affairs, such as the payment of bills, handling their property including its sale, contracting for services, making living arrangements, and taking care of other monetary obligations.
3. Revocable Trust
This allows a designee to control your estate while making transfers of assets to beneficiaries. The creator of the trust will designate what property — which could include their home, investments, and personal property like heirlooms and jewelry — goes into the trust and to whom it will be granted. During their lifetimes, the creator of the document will act as executor of their own living trust. According to legal experts, a revocable living trust has several important advantages when it comes to dividing an estate, two of the most important being:
- Allowing the estate to avoid probate at the time of the creator’s death, which can be a lengthy, tedious, and costly process in which the court administers the distribution of the estate. If the estate holds property in multiple states, it could further complicate matters by requiring probate in each state involved.
- Ensuring privacy, unlike a will which becomes a matter of public record.
A revocable living trust is one of the most important documents for older adults to have in their estate planning portfolio. It gives them control of their assets as long as they are able to manage them. An important thing to remember is that a person doesn’t need to be wealthy for a revocable trust to make sense. A life insurance policy, checking accounts, house, or other personal property justifies the establishment of a revocable living trust.
4. Will
Likely what comes to mind when most of us think about getting our affairs in order, a will is a legal document that lets you specify who should receive certain items from among your belongings after your death. Wills also can allocate assets and designate caregivers to provide for dependents and other people important to you long after you are gone. Not just for the elderly, wills are a good idea for anyone with valuable property, even if it’s only of sentimental value. People’s wishes often change throughout the course of their lives and they may update their will several times through the years.
How to get your documents drafted
Now that you know what you need, how do you go about getting your documents in order? The best thing to do is to talk to a family law attorney who can assist you in getting your affairs in order with all the paperwork you need in one sitting. Be sure to ask about the lawyer’s fees before you make an appointment, so you’re not surprised later by the bill. Please note, a lawyer isn’t necessary in creating a medical directive. Most states provide the forms for free, and you can complete them yourself. Learn more about completing an advance directive on the National Institute on Aging’s website.
Now what?
After your papers are completed, what should you do with them? Keep your important papers and copies of legal documents together in a secure place. For added security, you might consider getting a fireproof and waterproof safe to store your documents. If your papers are in a bank safe deposit box, keep copies in a file at home.
Visit Bethesda’s Finance & Planning blog for more tips for seniors.
