When you think about estate planning, you most certainly
think about death. You really have no choice - your Florida Will
or Florida Revocable Trust is all about who is going to get your stuff
when you die. It can be a pretty grim topic, which probably accounts
for the large percentage of Americans who don't have any planning in
place. After all, who wants to talk about death and dying?
That is
one way to view your estate planning, but it is not the way we choose
to do so. We believe that estate planning is all about the living
- not you, of course, since you are dead in this discussion, but rather
your family. If you leave loved ones, you can show them how much
they mean to you by creating a thoughtful estate plan. This could
include a Last Will and Revocable Trust, as well as a Power of Attorney
and Medical Directives.
The
first two documents are usually thought of in the context of death,
although Revocable Trusts often own assets during lifetime to avoid
probate and create a smooth transition of ownership and control if you
become incapacitated. The set two documents (which may be broken
down into three or four documents) name someone to make decisions for
you if you become incapacitated. These decisions may be
financially driven (e.g., financial power of attorney) or medically
driven (e.g., health care surrogate designation and living will).
Here's
another interesting and important way to show your family that you
truly love them - write out your funeral wishes. We know - that's
morbid. But, if you have lost a loved one and needed to plan his or her
funeral, then you know that this is a very difficult and emotional
process.
To help
you with this process, you can use our new Funeral Guide, which will be
linked to our site in the coming weeks. In the meantime, call our
office at 813-254-0044 for your FREE copy today.
Don't
hide from this - it is not going away. Spending an hour or so
putting your wishes on paper while save your family hours of heartache
and confusion when they are most vulnerable. Once you are
done, you can upload your Funeral Wishes to The DocSafe for
easy retrieval!
