Day 17, Getting My house in order

With more and more people I know dying, I decide to revisit my estate planning.  To avoid some of the drama that goes along with death, I'm on a mission to get my estate planning house in order!

I wanted to work with an attorney who had a great deal of experience in estate planning.  It was also important that I find a small office, where the attorneys had the time to treat my estate planning like they would their own.  In short, I didn't want to be rushed in this process... So, I chose a two attorney and one receptionist firm.  We came up with a comprehensive estate plan, but now it's time for an update!

We'll talk about all of your estate planning needs, including your WILL, but here are the other documents I think you can't live without.   We'll talk about your will in tomorrow's post.


You MUST, MUST, MUST have:

1. A durable power of attorney for health care, which lets you identify who will make medical decisions for you. (This is also known as a health care proxy.)  What if you have a stroke or a bad car accident and end up in an unfortunate situation where you are mentally unable to make medical decisions for yourself?  Do you want a court making that decision?  A greedy relative?  An estranged family member?  This document will allow you to appoint a representative to make decisions on your behalf.  It's usually only one to two pages long and takes very little time to create!
2.  A living will tells doctors exactly what kind of care you do and don't want to receive if you're terminally ill or incapacitated.   A living will speaks for you if you are unable to speak for yourself.  It describes your treatment preferences if you have a serious illness or accident.  You are probably asking why you need a health care power of attorney, if you have a living will.  The answer is that a living will can't cover everything, so it's a good idea to have a medical power of attorney as well.**Some states combine the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care in the same form.  You may also choose to have a Do not resuscitate (DNR) order drafted. This is a request to not have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing.  Your doctor can also put a DNR order in your medical chart.
3. A durable power of attorney for finances designates who will handle money decisions.  This power of attorney can be very broad, to cover all financial situations or can be limited to a specific task(s).   Make sure you choose someone you trust to handle financial matters.  A good rule of thumb is to only appoint someone who you know handles their own finances well!

I certainly hope this gets you off to a good start!  Please don't be intimidated--it's really not that bad!
I prefer to use a local attorney, but if you have a pretty good understanding of legal documents, here's a site that can help you create these docs for free, if you use the one-week unlimited access trial subscription!!

http://www.lawdepot.com/contracts/living-will-us/?a=t&loc=US&ldcn=poamed&pid=googleppc-healthcontent_us-ft_medical_poa_b2ft-c-ggkey_california%20durable%20power%20of%20attorney%20for%20health%20care&s_kwcid=ContentNetwork|6017667383

Good luck!  You're well on your way to an estate plan! Looking forward to day 18!  Please let me know if you get your documents drafted.  It only took me 15 minutes!