Estate planning is the process of determining how a person’s assets will be managed and distributed in the event of their death or incapacitation. Everyone has an estate. Your estate includes everything that you own – your house, your car, your clothes, your jewelry, your bank accounts, etc. Making a plan for your estate, whether large or small, ensures that your property goes where you want it to go. Most importantly, if you have kids, you will need to make a plan for who will take care of them. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that we have no clue what the future holds, but we can be prepared for whatever life throws our way.

Each person is unique, each family is unique, and their plans for the future are unique.

You do not want to design your estate plan with a “one size fits all” approach. You worked your whole life for the things that you have, and some template that you downloaded from the internet will not be able to address all of the nuances within your unique circumstances. You need a carefully tailored approach to your estate plan and The Bundy-Ford Law Firm is ready to help you with your plan. We offer a highly customized approach to designing your estate plan.

Planning for Incapacity

When a person is incapacitated it means that they are physically and/or mentally unable to take care of their own affairs. Most people associate incapacity with elderly people but incapacity can happen at any age. For instance, if a healthy twenty-year-old gets in a car accident, they could suffer a brain injury that could make them incapable of being able to understand what is going on around them. Car accidents happen every day and you should be prepared in case something like this happens. Without a power of attorney, a parent would have to go through an expensive court process to prove that the twenty-year-old cannot handle their own affairs. Learn more about planning for your incapacity.

Planning for Death

Although it may be difficult to think about, we should think about what will happen to our family and possessions after we pass away. If you do not have a plan in place, the state decides who will inherit from you. The state does not take into account who you may want to set aside more of your estate because of their particular situation. The state also does not care if you wanted to leave specific items to your friends. But you have a chance to be thoughtful about who will inherit from you. You can make decisions based on your family’s needs and you can make sure that sentimental items are given to the appropriate people. Having a plan for after you pass away creates a peace of mind that the people you care of most will be taken care of. Learn more about estate planning.

Estate Planning can help you plan for…

• Care for Minor Children
• Financial Safeguards for Adult Children
• Family Members with Special Needs
• Charitable Giving
• Long Term Care