The Covid-19 pandemic has brought several things to the forefront of people's minds recently including mortality. With a sudden spike in coronavirus cases, we have seen an increase of clients concerned about their estate. According to a report by The Florida Bar, there has been an increasing number of people interested in estate planning and hiring attorneys to get their affairs in order.
Four estate planning documents you should have on hand and keep updated:
- Durable Power of Attorney: This document gives permission to someone you trust to make important decisions in your life. These decisions can be simple ones like communicating with a utility company or more complicated ones like banking, real estate, and legal matters.
- Living Will: This legal document allows a person to specify their end-of-life care preferences in the event they become unable to communicate them directly. This may be due to situations such as accidents or a terminal illness.
- Health Care Surrogate: This document appoints a trusted person to help make decisions for your medical care like consent for treatment, HIPPA related requests, and transportation between facilities.
- Declaration of Preneed Guardian: For parents with minor children, you may appoint a guardian to provide care for your children in the event that you become incapacitated or die before they become legal adults. You can also appoint someone to act as your legal guardian if the need ever arises.
Do you and your designated fiduciaries know where your estate planning documents are located?
The simple act of making sure that you and your designated fiduciaries know where your estate planning documents are located is often overlooked but can prevent unnecessary confusion and stress. In most instances, it’s advisable to inform designated fiduciaries where to find your important estate planning documents, and in some instances, to provide fiduciaries with a copy.
There are many other questions and/or documents you may want to protect your family and your assets in the event of sudden death, such as Covid-19. While these are certainly stressful times, an estate planning lawyer can help ease the stress and answer questions regarding your assets and property.
Our attorney can meet with you at your home if you cannot travel to us. We look forward to helping you and your family with your estate planning needs. Call us today at 800-705-5457.