Estate Planning & Wills
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Protect your loved ones.
With a Last Will and Testament, you can control how your estate is handled. See the basic estate plan described below.
Three documents recommended for a basic estate plan
1) Last Will and Testament
A will directs how and to whom your assets will be distributed upon your death. If there is no will, Georgia law directs to whom your property will be distributed. For instance, if you are married with two children, one-third of your property will go to your spouse, and one-third to each of the children. This could result in a parent having joint ownership of property with a minor child, which in turn, will require court permission to sell or refinance the property. If you have young children, a will is crucial so that you can choose a guardian for your children in case tragedy strikes and neither parent survives.
2) Durable Financial Power of Attorney
A durable financial power of attorney designates a trusted person to make financial decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated. Including this completely executed document in your estate plan could avoid the expense of requesting a probate court to appoint a conservator of your property, along with the added burden of preparing returns for the court’s review and oversight. In 2017, Georgia enacted law providing for a statutory form. If you do not have a current document complying with the law, you may wish to have a new document drafted.
3) Georgia Advance Directive for Healthcare
This document was created by the Georgia legislature to replace the old living will and the healthcare power of attorney. It allows you to appoint a person to make healthcare decisions in the event that you are unable to verbalize your wishes. It also allows you to leave detailed instructions regarding specific types of healthcare if you are in a permanent state of unconsciousness or if you have a terminal condition.
Your estate planning may also include TRUSTS:
Testamentary Trust
You may wish to set up a testamentary trust (a trust established by will) for your minor children with a trustee to manage their financial matters until they reach the age of majority in case both parents die.
Special Needs Trust
If you have a child with a disability who receives government benefits, you may want to set up a Special Needs Trust in order to protect those benefits upon your child’s receipt of an inheritance or other sum of money which exceeds the maximum allowed for such a recipient.
Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT)
An MAPT is an estate-planning tool that offers an alternative to long-term care insurance for nursing home care. The process involves transferring some assets into a trust to manage during life and transferring to one’s loved ones following death.
