At its simplest, estate planning is the process of putting a plan in place to ensure a person’s wishes regarding their property, personal and financial care, and family are honored when they die or become incapacitated and cannot make those decisions on their own.

A plan can include the following considerations:

• Who will receive a person’s property when they die and how it should be received

• Who should serve as guardian of any minor children

• Who is best qualified to make a person’s health care decisions in the event they cannot speak for themselves

• Who should make financial decisions for a person if they become incapacitated

• What are a person’s end-of-life instructions, such as whether or not they would like to be resuscitated, be kept on life support or receive artificial hydration and nutrition if they are in a persistent vegetative state or terminal medical condition, or whether they wish to donate organs

• How a person can provide for family members with special needs

• How a person can provide for loved ones who may need future protection from creditors or in divorce

• How a person can transfer their business upon their retirement, disability, or death

• How a person can minimize taxes, court costs, and unnecessary expenses and legal fees

• And much more!

Estate planning should be an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Circumstances inevitably change as time goes by—marriage, divorce, children, illness, and retirement. An estate plan should be a living document that evolves as your life does. Estate Plan Design Center can guide and advise you as you move through the milestones of life.