If you’re planning for the future, you might be thinking about writing a last will. While having a will is a great way to direct which beneficiaries get your assets when you pass away, it’s only one of a few estate planning tools to consider if you want to protect your estate as you age.
Michigan lawyers frequently advise clients to create a comprehensive estate plan that combines a last will with other important estate planning documents. These might include trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and other legal tools that give you more control of your estate both before and after your death. If you’re curious about what your estate plan should include, contact the Law Office of Shannon DeWall, PLLC, to learn which legal tools can help you achieve your estate planning goals.
Are You Hoping to Avoid the Michigan Probate Process?
Wills are popular estate planning tools because they streamline the process of determining which family members will inherit the assets you leave behind when you pass away. This document also allows you to appoint an executor of your estate and a guardian for your minor children. While these benefits are certainly appealing for most people, there are some drawbacks to only having a last will rather than a comprehensive estate plan.
The main drawback is that wills must go through probate, a time-consuming legal process that ensures the document is valid and accurate before distributing the assets to the family. The probate process can take months since the appointed executor or personal representative must get the assets appraised, pay the estate’s debts, file taxes, and settle any disputes involving the estate before the beneficiaries get their assets.
Not only is probate time-consuming and costly due to legal fees, but it’s also a matter of public record. If you want to prevent the public from viewing the details of your estate after your death, you’ll need to find a way to avoid probate, which is not possible if your only estate planning document is a last will.
This is why skilled Michigan estate planning attorneys typically recommend pairing a will with other tools that can avoid probate. One commonly recommended option is a living trust, an arrangement where you transfer ownership of your assets to a trust so they’re no longer in your name. This way, the assets in the trust bypass probate and go straight to your beneficiaries when you pass away.
Other estate planning tools that avoid probate include transfer-on-death accounts, payable-on-death accounts, and beneficiary designations for certain assets, such as insurance policies. A knowledgeable Michigan attorney can help you decide what is right for you when making an estate plan.
Do You Want to Plan for Incapacity?
Wills help explain your wishes after you pass away, but they can’t help during your lifetime, even if you’re unable to talk due to a coma or other situation where you’re incapacitated. Fortunately, some estate planning options can take effect in this situation.
One example is a durable power of attorney for finances. This document lets you appoint someone you trust to manage your finances if you’re incapacitated. The person you appoint for this role, called your attorney-in-fact, will have the power to pay your bills, sign checks, manage investments, and make other financial decisions on your behalf.
You should also consider signing a medical power of attorney form that designates someone to make medical decisions for you if you cannot do so yourself. This person is called a patient advocate and can tell your doctors and nurses what kind of medical treatment you’d be comfortable with if you’re too sick or injured to communicate.
Creating a healthcare directive is another way to ensure your medical team knows your healthcare preferences. Also known as a living will, this document states whether you approve of the use of CPR, dialysis, blood transfusions, and other common medical procedures that you might need toward the end of your life. If you’re against specific procedures, your living will can tell your medical team not to use them. A trusted Michigan estate planning lawyer will sit down with you to create documents like this to add to your estate plan.
What Legal Tools Can Best Protect Your Assets?
If your main goal is to maximize the amount of money you leave your loved ones, let your lawyer know so they can recommend the right estate planning tools. For many people, a trust can fulfill this need, as it provides certain protections to any assets that are transferred to it.
If you’re looking for a trust with the most protection from taxes and creditors, consider making an irrevocable trust. This option requires you to choose a trustee to manage the trust assets, at which point you can’t easily modify or revoke the trust. While this means you have less control over the trust assets, it can keep them safe from any creditor claims or lawsuits against you.
After all, you’re no longer considered the owner of the assets once they’re transferred, so you don’t have the legal power to give them to creditors. This also means you’ll generally pay less in estate taxes, which can make a big difference if you’re a high-net-worth individual.
How Can a Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer Help You?
If you’re still unsure if you need only a will or a comprehensive estate plan, you should schedule an appointment with a lawyer who can advise you based on your circumstances. They can then help set up the estate planning tools that meet your needs, whether they include trusts, powers of attorney, or other common tools.
At the Law Office of Shannon DeWall, PLLC, we’d be happy to create a custom estate plan that helps protect you and your family. Call 734-366-4463 to schedule an initial consultation with our team.