Limited Power of Attorney to access safe deposit box for estate planning purposes. If you have stock certificates or savings bonds in a safety deposit box, a limited power of attorney may authorize an individual to access these documents prior to your death.

Power of attorney to make estate planning gifts. You may wish to authorize someone to make gifts of your property on your behalf in the event of your incapacity. This can be accomplished by appropriate language in your power of attorney. The gifting language can be tailored to meet your planning goals or special situations.

Do Not Resuscitate orders, where appropriate for your estate planning.  Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is a set of physician orders that can “travel” with a patient and be used by any Georgia health care provider to carry out the patient’s medical advance directives. This set of medical orders provides guidance regarding desired medical interventions.  It is particularly useful for the very ill or elderly who have limited ability to communicate their Do Not Resuscitate wishes to health care providers.

Discuss these Georgia estate planning tips, or brainstorm other strategies to address your specific needs with your Georgia estate planning attorney.

© Karen S. Hindson, Hindson & Melton LLC

Create a trust and transfer assets now

Create a trust and transfer your assets into the trust now, naming yourself as the initial trustee.  So long as you are still able, you continue to manage trust assets.  The terms of your trust provide for transfer of management of your assets to a successor trustee if and when you become incapacitated.  Your trust names successor trustee(s) and specifies the procedure for determining if you are incapacitated.  You can include safeguards in the trust to protect against overeager successor trustees who may be interested in taking control while you are still capable of handling your own affairs.

The successor trustee could be a trustworthy (and financially savvy) family member, or you can name a bank trust department or trust company.  Sometimes, individuals are named as co-trustees with a corporate trustee.  Trusts are very flexible instruments that can be tailored to your specific wishes, needs, and concerns.  You can amend your trust as needed after you create it to accommodate changing life circumstances and objectives.

If you have a trust, you should understand its purpose and the fundamentals of how it is designed to work.  You should know what assets are currently owned by your trust and the rationale of why.  If you are uncertain about these things, you should consult with a qualified estate planning attorney about your trust.

Create a trust now and transfer assets later

If you don’t want to transfer your assets into the trust immediately, you can create the trust now but not fund it.  An accompanying power of attorney can enable, or instruct, your attorney-in-fact to transfer your assets into your trust for management in the event you become incapacitated.

Whether you plan for your possible future incapacity through powers of attorney or a trust or a combination thereof, it is most helpful to plan in advance.  Otherwise, if you become incapacitated, it is likely that someone will have to file a petition with the Georgia or South Carolina Probate Court to be named your legal guardian and/or conservator.   Court supervision of any conservator would be required by law, and there would be additional ongoing expenses such as filing regular reports with the Court and seeking the Court’s permission to spend your funds to take care of you.  Having your trust in place can avoid this altogether and give you much more privacy.

Who should be appointed trustee?

It is important that you give serious thought to who you might name as your successor trustee.  Do not name individuals likely to mishandle the responsibility.  Trusts frequently waive safeguards that a Court would impose on a conservator, such as posting a “security bond” which would protect against misappropriation of trust assets.  Sometimes, even well-intentioned family members might be inept at handling your finances.  You may conclude that naming a corporate fiduciary as your successor trustee is your best available option.

A qualified Georgia or South Carolina estate planner should work with you to prepare your trust and any amendments.  Together, you can conduct a thoughtful review of your financial and family circumstances to design an estate planning strategy just for you.

© Karen S. Hindson, Hindson & Melton LLC      October 13, 2013

ALSO SEE:

• LIVING WILL FOR GEORGIA OR SOUTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS
• ESTATE PLANNING NOTEBOOK
• ESTATE PLANNING CHECKUP

What do you want to have happen to your online presence, when you die?  I hope you’ll think about this now – while you’re living and breathing and not in a crisis.  Then, take the appropriate actions.  Include your decision and desires in your Last Will and Testament.  Include the authority to act on your behalf in your general power of attorney so that your postings can be closed in the event of your absence and at your direction.

Remember, what you put online will “live” in perpetuity and then plan accordingly.

© Joy T. Melton, Hindson & Melton LLC   April 24, 2013

• Have there been signficant changes in your assets or your family situation since you signed your Last Will and Testament?
• Are the persons you named as Executor, Guardian for your children, or Trustee still alive and good choices to serve in these roles?
• If you named Co-Executors, do they get along well or is there likely to be conflict?
• Does your Will reference a personal property memorandum and if so, have you prepared one?  Where is it?
• Where do you keep your original Will, who knows where it is, and do you have confidence that it would be found and honored if you die?
• Do the terms of your Will coordinate well with your “non probate” assets – such as jointly titled properties, TOD  (transfer on death) or POD (pay on death) accounts or assets, life insurance policies, annuities, IRAs, and 401(k) accounts?
• Do you understand what would happen to each asset in the event of your death?  Have you confirmed that your understanding is correct?
• Do you have step-children and have your wishes regarding them been clearly spelled out in your Will?
• If you are named in your parents’ planning documents, are their documents current?
• If you own a business or part of a business, what happens in the event of your death?  Is this determined by your Will or are there business documents that govern?
• Do you own assets that your heirs or Executor would not know how to handle, such as a valuable collection of personal property items?
• How old are your estate planning documents, and were they prepared by a qualified professional?

Estate Planning Checkup - Powers of Attorney

• Do you have either a health care power of attorney or an advance directive for health care?  Are the health care agents you named still alive and good choices?
• Does your health care agent have a copy of your health care POA or advance directive?
• Do you have a durable financial power of attorney?  Does your financial power of attorney become effective only if you are incapcitated?  Is the agent still alive and a good choice?  Should you name an alternate agent?
• Do you have an old power of attorney that needs to be revoked?
• Do your parents have powers of attorney that are appropriate in light of their health, assets, and family issues?

Estate Planning Checkup – Trusts

• If you have a trust, do you understand the purpose of the trust?
• Has your trust been funded or have properties been transferred to the trust as you intended?
• Do you know what is owned by your trust?
• Are there changes that need to be made in the Trustee or other trust terms?

Estate Planning Checkup - Beneficiary designations

• When is the last time you checked your employer’s records, life insurance, and retirement investment accounts to see who your named beneficiaries are?
• Are your beneficiary designations coordinated with your Last Will and Testament and other planning documents?
• Do you have copies of the beneficiary designations or printouts in a notebook?

Estate Planning Checkup – Accounts and passwords

• Do you have online accounts for which you do not receive paper statements?
• Do  have a complete and current list of accounts, log-ins, and passwords in case of your death or incapacity?  Where is this list and who knows about it?
• Are there business accounts that someone would need to access in the event of your death or incapacity?

Estate Planning Checkup - Insurance

• If you have disability, long term care, or life insurance, do you have a copy of each policy, and does your family know where they are?  Do they understand what would be required to be eligible for benefits?
• Do you have insurance appropriate to your family situation, needs and goals?  Do you understand the policies you have?

In Conclusion

This checkup is not a complete list of questions; it is intended to stimulate your thoughts about your situation and your personal estate plan.  Every individual has specific concerns based on his or her life choices, family relationships, and assets.    Contact the attorneys of  Hindson & Melton LLC or another qualified estate planning firm to create, review, or update your estate plan.  Hindson & Melton LLC serves Metropolitan Atlanta, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, and Alpharetta Georgia, as well as Charleston, South Carolina.

© Karen S. Hindson, Hindson & Melton LLC, February 28, 2013