All Responsible Adults Need an Estate Plan

When you examine the statistics, you find that the majority of people in the United States have not executed all of the recommended estate planning documents. Many of us live busy lives and procrastination can often be the order of the day, but there is really no excuse for going through life without making any preparations for the inevitable.

Even if your situation is not very complex, it is important to express your final wishes with regard to the distribution of your financial assets via the execution of a will or a trust.

Additionally, aside from the financial side of things, there is something else to take into consideration.

It is not a particularly pleasant subject to consider, but people do sometimes lose the ability to communicate. As we saw with the highly publicized case of Terri Schiavo a number of years ago, even young people can suffer from catastrophic medical conditions.

Because of the fact that medical science has many advanced capabilities, it may be possible to keep an individual alive indefinitely through the use of artificial life support systems. Different people have different opinions about how they would want to proceed under these circumstances.

By executing an advance health care directive (also called a “living will”), you express your wishes regarding the use of life support. Your own preferences will then be honored should such a situation arise, and there will be no cause for disagreements among family members.

It is also advisable to execute durable powers of attorney naming representatives to act on your behalf in the event of your incapacitation.

If you are currently unprepared, right now would be a good time to take action and arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced San Jose estate planning lawyer.

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Litherland, Kennedy & Associates, APC, Attorneys at Law

Litherland, Kennedy & Associates have been providing quality estate planning services in the Greater Bay Area since 1975. They are committed to helping those concerned with protecting their families from the devastating legal effects of disability and death. With the aid of public seminars, educational presentations, articles, and radio/television interviews, the law office has championed the use of revocable living trusts as a proven way to protect families from probate, to minimize or eliminate federal estate taxes, and to prevent the Medi-Cal Recovery lien. Roy W. Litherland and Justin M. Kennedy are certified as Legal Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. They are members of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

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