{"id":1938,"date":"2019-12-01T03:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T03:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bresky-merger.local.com\/posts\/raise-a-glass-to-the-health-of-your-estate-plan\/"},"modified":"2019-12-01T03:00:03","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T03:00:03","slug":"raise-a-glass-to-the-health-of-your-estate-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/raise-a-glass-to-the-health-of-your-estate-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Raise a Glass: To the Health of Your Estate Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jennifer L. Fulton, Esquire<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Happy New Year!\u00a0 As we ring in 2020, most of us set goals for living intentionally in the new year.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have an estate plan, make it a New Year\u2019s resolution to take care of it for yourself and your family this year.\u00a0 If you have one, now is the time to dust off your estate plan and be sure it is up to date.\u00a0 Here is a list of questions to help you get started.<\/p>\n

    \n \tHas your family composition changed since your last plan was done?<\/strong> If you have gotten married or divorced, had children or grandchildren, or lost loved ones, it might be time to make some changes.<\/lem>
    \n \tWill your younger children and grandchildren to have someone to help them with their inheritance? <\/strong>Certainly a minor child cannot receive an inheritance without having a responsible adult care for that money until they are old enough to receive it outright.\u00a0 There are reasons you may not wish for young adults to receive an inheritance outright as well.\u00a0 They are still developing their work ethic.\u00a0 They may need protection from creditors, substance abuse or addiction, or divorce.\u00a0 They may just need to \u201cgrow into\u201d a little more maturity before having access to their money.\u00a0 Or you may wish for your trusted financial advisor to help manage the money for them.\u00a0 All these can be accomplished in your estate plan.<\/lem>
    \n \tHave you planned for your incapacity?<\/strong> We are living longer now, but sometimes that means we may need help to take care of things we used to do ourselves.\u00a0 A Health Care Surrogate, Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, a HIPAA release and waiver, Will and fully funded Revocable Living Trust work together so this can happen.\u00a0 This year, review to ensure you have the newest version of these documents, and that your named fiduciaries are still the most appropriate people for you.<\/lem>
    \n \tHas the law changed since your last estate plan was drafted?<\/strong> Or have you moved to a new state since then?\u00a0 Your personal representative might not qualify to serve under the laws of your new home state.\u00a0 Allow an attorney to review your estate plan.<\/lem>
    \n \tHave you built a team of professionals?<\/strong> If so, are they working together?\u00a0\u00a0 Your financial planner, accountant and attorney can work together to plan for long term care in advance, maximize the benefit of your retirement planning for yourself and your beneficiaries, and determine whether lifetime gifts or advanced planning will be of benefit to you.<\/lem>
    \n \tHave you introduced your children to your team of professionals and familiarized them with your estate plan?<\/strong> Letting them know how it all works together can avoid misunderstandings and disharmony later, and make it easier for them to make important post-death elections.\u00a0\u00a0 Your children are more likely to honor your wishes if they understand the reasons for them.<\/lem>
    \n \tHave you pre-planned for your funeral and final disposition?<\/strong> This step is so helpful to your loved ones after you pass, and is often overlooked.\u00a0 It allows them to know what your choices are at a time when decision making is difficult, and if you pay for the services in advance, you get exactly what you want.<\/lem>\n<\/ol>\n

    So as you ring in the New Year, raise a glass to your health, and to good planning for your future!<\/p>\n

    Jennifer L. Fulton, Esq. is Of Counsel at The Law Offices of Robin <\/em>Bresky (www.breskylegal.com<\/u>)\u00a0focusing\u00a0on\u00a0Estate Planning, Probate, and Estate and Trust Administration. A\u00a0member of the Florida Bar since 1996 with a\u00a0Juris Doctor degree\u00a0from Nova Southeastern University,\u00a0Fulton works with clients to plan for the milestones of life (college, \u201cadulting\u201d, marriage, children, grandchildren, aging parents, pre- and post-divorce,\u00a0loss of a spouse, aging, diminished mental\u00a0capacity)\u00a0and administration upon death. She can be reached at 561-994-6273 or\u00a0<\/em>EstatePlanning@BreskyLegal.com<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

    This information is provided for general educational purposes and may not apply to your specific situation.\u00a0 Please consult with an attorney before relying on this information.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Jennifer L. Fulton, Esquire   Happy New Year!\u00a0 As we ring in 2020, most of us set goals for living intentionally in the new year.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have an estate plan, make it a New Year\u2019s resolution to take care of it for yourself and your family this year.\u00a0 If you have one,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-estate-planning"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssrga.com\/appellate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}