Young Adults
Young adults (18-25) need protection too. Powers of Attorney offer the most basic protection, ensuring the right people can make medical decisions, access medical records, and assist with finances (insurance, bills, government benefits, etc.) in the event of serious injury or illness. Parents are often surprised to discover that roadblocks go up with doctors and financial institutions the second their child turns 18. These documents create a bridge allowing parents to continue to help when needed. These documents are especially important if there are immediate family members who the young adult would rather NOT have control over medical or financial decisions in an emergency.
Our POA Package includes a Medical Power of Attorney and Durable Power of Attorney, which are discussed in more detail below, plus a tabbed document organizer and Adulting Checklist to help young clients start off on the right foot.
Ramsey Law wants to introduce these tools to people at these young ages because they offer basic protections we all need and can provide a big leg up on future financial security.
Retirement-Age Adults
Many people don’t start to think seriously about estate planning until they reach retirement age.
At this point many people are worried about the legacy they will leave behind or simply making the process easier after they pass. They have likely seen a “probate gone wrong” situation in their lifetime and don’t want their family to go through the same heartache, cost, and hassle. Others are receiving encouragement from adult children who don’t want to be left with a messy probate situation.
A big focus for Ramsey Law is minimizing conflict, cost, and avoidable inconvenience that is common after a loss while taking into account other practical concerns clients may not consider on their own.
Additionally, Ramsey Law Will and Trust Packages include other documents designed to ensure the right people are in charge in the event of an emergency, serious illness/injury, or even incapacity. Clients deserve maximum protection even if that isn’t always the motivator for putting an estate plan together.
Click on these links for more information about Ramsey Law Packages: Will Package and Trust Package
Everyone Else
The needs of our clients vary from person to person and no estate planning package looks like the last.
Common concerns include entrusting the RIGHT people to make decisions in the event of a serious illness/injury or death, excluding people who should not be in positions of power, setting up assets to pass how clients intend them to pass, and protecting loved ones (especially young and incapacitated loved ones).
Accomplishing these goals require the right documents prepared by an attorney knowledgeable in this area of law, that are specifically tailored to the client’s individual circumstances and wishes, and that are properly executed. Without all of these elements, the risk of unnecessary cost and conflict are significant.
Ramsey Law recommends implementing a thorough, high quality estate plan as soon as possible. By the time you actually need these documents, it may be too late.
Do it for:
- your kids
- your spouse/partner
- your favorite sibling/niece/friend
- YOURSELF
Free Downloads
Adulting Checklist for Young Adults
Necessary Information Checklist
The Basics (for Everyone)
People you need in your life ASAP:
- Financial Advisor: this person is key to future financial success. The sooner you start working on your financial future, the better. An ideal advisor will have a lot of experience, compare products offered by different companies, check in with you at least once a year, and demonstrate that they have your best interests in mind, not their own.
- Estate Planning Attorney: this person can ensure that you and your family are protected in the event of incapacity or worse. A common misconception is that you have to have a lot of money or property to need a Will and Powers of Attorney, but everyone needs some basic protections and it is often people of more modest means who benefit the most from the cost-saving measures these documents can offer. A Power of Attorney is far less costly than a guardianship. Probate with a Will is not nearly as expensive or time consuming as probate without in most cases. A good estate planning attorney can also advise on probate avoidance options (such as adding beneficiaries to bank accounts, vehicles, and real estate), and, just as importantly, whether those options would simplify matters or make things worse in each individual’s situation. There are plenty of resources out there for low or no cost estate planning, but you often miss out on the invaluable experience and advice of an attorney who has been in the trenches in probate court. Probating a poorly drafted Will done online or by someone who *thinks* they understand the law can be far more expensive than the cost of using a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer to draft the documents.
- Business Attorney: if you have or plan to start a business, a business attorney can ensure your documents (formation, contract, etc.) are set up properly, that you are maximizing liability protections available under the law, and, if you have partners, that your interests are protected.
- Insurance Agents: having a good health insurance agent, home/auto insurance agent, and, if needed, commercial insurance agent, are crucial to protecting your assets and saving money on rates. Often these agents specialize in certain areas, so you may have 3 different agents, but being able to call or text someone’s direct line, instead of calling an 800 number, will make your life so much easier and also ensure you have the RIGHT AMOUNT of coverage.
- CPA/Tax Preparer: this isn’t necessarily something you need to file your tax return on a minimum wage job (there plenty of services that will prepare tax returns for free under a certain income level), but career professionals and business owners need someone who knows all of the deductions. If you are in school, it is important to talk to your parents about taxes to determine if they will report you under their tax return (they can often take advantage of much larger deductions).
Common Estate Planning Documents
- Durable (Financial) Power of Attorney: appoints agents who can assist with or handle your finances if needed. This is most commonly used in the event of a temporary or permanent incapacity (e.g. bad car accident) or when it is more convenient for the agent to communicate with your bank. Financial institutions and most third parties will not disclose financial information or allow the people you trust to access your accounts without this document. It is only effective during your lifetime and is not a substitute for a Will.
- Medical Power of Attorney: appoints agents who can make medical decisions for you if you can’t make them for yourself. Generally, family members will have difficulty obtaining medical information and making decisions for someone who is unconscious or incapacitated. Additionally, having one official decision-maker (versus the whole family arguing over the best options for care) can provide for better care, less conflict, and allow medical professionals to focus on what they do best.
- Directive to Physicians: specifies preferences regarding extraordinary life support measures in extreme circumstances where recovery is not expected (takes the burden of the decision off the family if you feel strongly about witholding or continuing support)
- Declaration of Guardian: specifies who you would or would not want to serve as your legal guardian if you become incapacitated
- Appointment of Agent for Disposition of Remains: specifies agent(s) who will handle final arrangements (particularly important if the individual prefers cremation or next of kin would not agree)
- Last Will: specifies how you want your property to pass and who will be in charge of administering your estate when you pass. This is particularly important if you would leave behind accounts or insurance without beneficiaries, real estate, a spouse, children, or expect that your family would not get along. A Will is also helpful if the person has unclaimed funds, a paycheck or employee benefits that have not been collected, secured loans, or other interests that cannot be dealt with informally.
- Living Trust: this is similar to a Will but is designed to avoid probate court. A trust can also be beneficial if you own property in multiple states, expect conflict after you pass, or want to minimize the chance of your family needing to obtain guardianship to manage your affairs in the event of incapacity. This document does require more legwork on the part of the client to maximize effectiveness, but can make things a lot easier and more cost effective in the end.
- Transfer on Death Deed or Ladybird Deed: this sets up real estate to pass automatically upon death. It can be a great tool (as a part of a full estate plan) to avoid probate court and even Medicaid Estate Recovery when used properly, but for some people the downsides outweigh the potential benefits.
This information is for all Texans, not just people who plan to hire this firm, but please, PLEASE, use a licensed attorney who has a lot of experience with estate planning and probate law. This is not an area of law in which you want to dabble and that neighbor who can copy and paste Will language from their old job is likely to cause a much bigger mess in the end. People generally do not find out there are issues related to their documents until it is too late. Issues can arise not only due to poor drafting or improper execution, but a lack of understanding regarding how these documents are processed by banks, government agencies, and companies. Even perfectly drafted documents can cause problems if there are practical issues that were not considered. It is what you don’t know that can come back to bite you.