Hi everyone and welcome to The Joerg H. Seifert Law Office Blog. I am just setting this up for now and I am not really sure what to put down for now. I think this will be a great medium to inform and advise my clients of legal and general information that they need to know.
For now, it is important for everyone to review their Estate Planning Checklist and see me for further information.
1. POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR PROPERTY AND HEALTH CARE. This gives the person you name the power to make medical decisions and financial decisions when you are no able to make them for yourself.
2. A WILL. If you don’t have a will, the statute regarding decent and distribution will decide who inherits your belongings and your assets. More importantly, a will lets you decide who takes care of your children
3. FOR SOME OF YOU IT IS A TRUST. A trust is basically your alter ego (or maybe evil twin brother) that owns all your assets for you. It is essentially a box for your assets (cash, stocks, life insurance, real estate) that you can use to make sure that everything is handled according to your wishes and without probate administration. A trust might make sense if you have children from a prior marriage, you want to avoid probate, you have non-family members inheriting most of your asset, you have a disabled relative or child, or you have more money then I do and want to avoid paying estate taxes.
4. Review Life Insurance, IRAs, 401ks and other beneficiary forms. Like any other financial account that you own, the beneficiaries should be reviewed periodically to make sure they are up to date.
It is important that you review this checklist and sit down with me to make sure they accomplish your wishes. I do not charge to sit and chat so call for a consultation. [email protected]. 630-832-2333