Estate planning includes making important decisions for your
children, your assets and yourself.
Preparing for the future can save a significant amount of time, expense
and worry for your heirs. Use the
following guidelines to help you make two of the most important decisions when
planning for your death.
Guardian
Designating who takes care of your children may be the most
important decision you make while estate planning. Grandparents might seem like a natural choice
to be guardians but you should carefully consider their age, financial ability and
desire to raise children.
Your parents may love to visit their grandchildren but do
they really want to be full-time parents?
Will they have the time and energy to care for active, young
children? A better choice may be good
friends who are about your age, already have children and share similar
values. It is good practice to include alternatives
for guardian in your will in the event that someone is unwilling or unable to care for your
children.
Advance Health Care
Directive
This document allows you to specify who will make your
health care decisions if you are not able to make them yourself. You may also list certain medical instructions
in advance. It may be tempting to ensure
that you are given life-extending treatment such as intravenous fluids, feeing
and oxygen for a long period of time to see if you will recover.
However, you should carefully consider the expense and
emotional strain on your loved ones in such a situation. Life support can be costly and may quickly
diminish the estate you want to leave your children and relatives. No matter what you choose, you can avoid misunderstandings and
unnecessary expense if you name a trusted person in your health care power of
attorney. This person should know your
true wishes and be able to make objective decisions in a difficult
situation.
The most important decisions during estate planning should
be thought out well in advance.
Sometimes the wisest choice to achieve your goals may be also be the
simplest one. In any event, you should
contact an attorney to answer your questions and ensure that your decisions are
properly recorded in your documents.
