Getting Started With An Estate Plan
Creating an estate plan is essential for ensuring that your assets, healthcare decisions, and the future well-being of your loved ones are managed according to your wishes. An estate plan provides a clear and legally binding framework that helps avoid potential conflicts and confusion after your passing or during incapacitation.
By detailing how your property and financial resources should be distributed, who will take care of your dependents, and who will make important decisions on your behalf, an estate plan offers peace of mind and protection for your legacy, making it an indispensable part of responsible financial and personal planning.
Let’s get started!
If you would like our firm to help coordinate the preparation of your estate planning documents, then we will send you the following two forms:
Estate Plan Questionnaire - It starts with questions on your family information, beneficiaries, and the individuals you would like to name in charge of your finances and health.
Estate Planning Agreement - You will be receiving the estate plan agreement and can either sign electronically or we can provide you with a hard copy of the agreement.
Important Roles You Need To Assign
There are a few roles that you need to carry out the terms within your estate plan. The individual(s) can be the same person for all roles or you can pick and choose depending on your preferences.
Trustees - If you have decided to move forward with incorporating a trust into your estate plan, you will be the primary trustee on your trust and also your spouse if applicable. When you are no longer able to serve as trustee or you have passed away, you will need to name your successor trustee(s).
DPOAs - If you are married, your spouse will most likely be the primary durable power of attorney for your finances. You will need to name a backup to your primary and could also name a 2nd backup. The DPOA fulfills the finance decision role while you are living but not capable of making decisions.
Healthcare Proxies - Similar to DPOAs, your spouse (if applicable) will be your primary healthcare proxy. This person will be responsible for making any health decisions for you while you aren’t able to make them for yourself. You will receive a statement of wishes that you can complete if interested. The statement has a series of health related questions for you to answer. This will help give your healthcare proxy guidance to the best decision for you. You can complete these questions after completing the estate plan.
Wills - We strive to make sure you have named beneficiaries on all of your accounts. Beneficiaries supersede the will and avoid needing to read your will. The will captures anything that was missed.
Executor/Personal Representative - This will be the person responsible for your estate. Similar to DPOAs and healthcare proxies, if you are married your spouse usually is named as the individual. You will need to name a 2nd back up and could go as far as a 3rd.
Guardians - If you have children under the age of 18, you will need to name the person(s) you would like in charge of them after you are gone.
FAQ
It is common for people to be unfamiliar with the term “per stirpes”. Per stirpes is a way to distribute an estate where if a beneficiary dies before the person who made the will, their share goes to their children.
For example, imagine a person named John wants to leave his estate to his three children: Alice, Bob, and Carol. If Bob passes away before John, under per stirpes, Bob's share would go to his children (John's grandchildren). So, if Bob had two kids, they would each get half of what Bob would have received, ensuring Bob's family still gets their part of the inheritance.
What’s next?
After you complete the questionnaire and the agreement, you can upload them securely here. We will forward the answers you provided to the group that we use to generate your estate planning documents. It usually takes them one week to complete the first draft of your documents.
We will forward you a copy of the documents for you to review and then we will reach out in about two weeks to setup a call to review them together. If everything looks good, we will move on to the next step which is to have the documents signed. If you are a MA resident, we are able to provide the notary and two witnesses. If you are out of state, you will need to find a notary and two witnesses to complete the documents on your own.
After the documents are signed, you will hold on to the originals in a safe place and we can keep an electronic copy on file with us. Shortly after, we will send you a summary letter outlining which assets should be retitled to “fund your trust” (if applicable) and also which accounts may require updated beneficiary designations.
If you have any questions or want to setup a call to review further, please contact us.