Estate Planning in Maine
If you’re wondering which estate plan is best for you in South Portland, MA, our skilled estate planning lawyers at Jackson & MacNichol can help you choose a plan and draft the legal documents that are right for you. Several estate planning documents can make up your estate plan. Each is important in its own way, and together they form a powerful representation of your final wishes.
Creating an estate plan is an opportunity to think about your family, relationships, and loved ones and how you might continue to provide for them in your absence. This article provides some guidelines that can help you choose the right estate plan for your needs. There are several options to consider in your estate plan depending on the following circumstances:
- Single Under the Age of 30
- Parents of Minor Children
- Unmarried But Living with Your Partner
- Middle-Aged People
- Sick or Elderly People
Single Under the Age of 30
If you’re in your 20s or 30s, estate planning may not seem relevant. Younger people often think that estate planning is for older adults with more assets and money, but likely don’t realize the benefits they can get from estate planning at a young age. People arrive at their singleness in different ways, whether it’s through widowhood, divorce, or never having been married. Some singles have children, while others do not. There’s no one estate planning solution for every single person.
Creating an estate plan is essential for everyone, no matter your age, marital status, or financial status. Singles, on the other hand, need to focus on their own protection and lay the groundwork for allowing someone else to make medical and financial decisions on their behalf if they are not able to do so.
In addition, they may need to spend a bit more time thinking about where their assets would pass at death, because there may not be a clear set of beneficiaries like a spouse or children. Our credible South Portland estate planning lawyer can discuss your estate planning options that will benefit both you and your family.
Will
A will, also called a last will and testament, is an estate planning document primarily designed to transfer your assets according to your wishes. Wills allow you to name someone to be your executor or personal representative, who is the person you designate to carry out your instructions. A will only becomes effective upon your death, and after it is admitted by a probate court.
Financial Power of Attorney
While your last will and testament let you appoint the person who will be responsible for the disposition of your assets after your death, a financial power of attorney lets you assign a person who will manage your financial and living affairs if you become disabled or incapacitated during your life. They’re known as agents or attorneys-in-fact.
Your financial power of attorney can be very specific or very broad, depending on your wishes. Without this document, the court would need to appoint someone to handle important financial decisions for you. This could delay access to bank and investment accounts and make it difficult to access the money needed to pay bills.
Healthcare Power of Attorney
A healthcare power of attorney is a document that names someone to make decisions about your medical treatment if you are unable to make and communicate those decisions yourself. This document becomes effective when your medical providers determine you to be incompetent and in a terminal condition or a state of permanent unconsciousness.
Parents of Minor Children
For parents of minor children, an estate plan properly ensures that their children will always be in good hands, financially, emotionally, and physically. A good estate plan for a young family typically includes a will in which you name a guardian to care for minor children and appoint someone to manage the assets for the children until they become adults.
Naming a Guardian for Minor Children
Naming a guardian in the will provides the best evidence of who the parents would like to make decisions for their children. The guardian you name in your will is the person who would take over if both you and the other parent are unavailable to raise your children.
If you and your spouse unexpectedly pass away without a will, a court will appoint a legal guardian for your minor child. Unless you are comfortable with the state making this major decision, you should draft a last will and testament that clearly expresses your wishes with the help of our qualified South Portland estate planning lawyer.
Buying a Life Insurance Policy
A life insurance policy allows you to have designated beneficiaries who are paid directly after your death, outside of the probate process. Life insurance can help the remaining family transition while minimizing the financial impact on the child.
As parents of minor children, you may want to consider setting up a trust for them. You can designate the individual who will act as the trustee and will be responsible
Consider Creating a Trust
Trust assets need not go through probate, and it may save on taxes and give you more control over the distributions to your children depending on your circumstances. The trust may allow distributions for the child’s health, education, maintenance, and support throughout his or her life.
Unmarried But Living with Your Partner
If you live together with your partner but are not married, creating a comprehensive will is essential to bringing you and your partner peace of mind if one of you passes away. The best way to ensure your partner is taken care of is to draft a will that gives the property and assets you wish to give to them after your death. Our trusted South Portland MA estate planning attorney can help you determine the estate plan that is right for you and your partner.
If you die without a will or intestate, your significant other may end up with nothing. Unless you live in a state that allows civil unions or domestic partnerships, your property will pass through the intestacy laws of your state and will most likely go to your parents or other surviving family members.
Joint Tenancy with the Right of Survivorship
One way to make sure property passes to an unmarried partner is to own the property jointly, with the right of survivorship. If one joint tenant dies, his or her interest immediately ceases to exist and the remaining joint tenants own the entire property. This is also a good way to avoid probate.
Middle-Aged People
Once you cross the line into “middle age,” you can probably make a rough calculation of your assets. This may include bank accounts, retirement plans, 401(k) plans, and brokerage accounts. Before creating an estate plan, it is a good idea to seek legal advice from our knowledgeable South Portland estate planning lawyer who can help you learn more about the methods used to avoid probate and minimize tax liabilities on your estate.
Totten Trust (Payable-on-Death Accounts)
A totten trust, also known as a payable on death account, is a bank account for which the person who opens the account names a beneficiary. Totten trusts are a quick and easy way to make sure your assets go to your beneficiaries. This type of trust is a great option for avoiding probate court and gift taxes.
Revocable Living Trusts
A revocable living trust is a popular estate planning tool that you can manage during your lifetime and use to leave the property when you die. Unlike an irrevocable trust, one of the best features of a revocable living trust is that you can amend and change it however you wish while you are still alive.
When you die, the property in the trust will be transferred quickly and efficiently to the people that you chose. Using a revocable living trust can avoid probate, which can be a complex and time-consuming process, and estate taxes.
Sick or Elderly People
Estate planning is essential for seniors, people with terminal illnesses, and their family members to be prepared in the event of a loved one’s illness or passing. If you or an aging loved one has been putting off estate planning, start with the basics and learn why it’s important to take the focus off of the negative and shift it to the positive benefits. Our competent South Portland estate planning lawyers can help clients develop strategies to enable seniors to better advocate for themselves in these scenarios.
Advanced Health Care Directive
An advanced health care directive is commonly used to describe two critical documents designed to address end-of-life decisions. These documents usually are your living will and durable health care power of attorney.
Call Our Experienced South Portland Estate Planning Attorney Now!
Creating a comprehensive estate plan can help make decisions easier for your family and loved ones if something happens to you. You can have peace of mind knowing that your wishes are spelled out and that your loved ones won’t have to deal with stressful processes like major tax burdens, probate court, or inheritance disputes in your absence.
If you’re not sure where to start on your estate planning, our seasoned South Portland MA estate planning lawyers at Jackson & MacNichol will walk you through the laws and legal procedures. Our estate planning law firm has extensive experience drawing up estate planning documents, creating durable power of attorney paperwork, helping you choose beneficiary designations, and more.
Our goal is to help you achieve peace of mind so you and your loved ones won’t have to worry about the future. Contact our law office now and schedule a free estate planning and asset protection strategy session with our experienced lawyers.
