Organizing estate plans

Gathering your financial information

By Gina M. Barry, Esq., Partner, Bacon & Wilson. P. C. Special to PRIME As you complete your Spring cleaning this year, one of the most important things you can organize is your estate plan. If your estate plan is organized, your affairs can be handled efficiently and effectively. Conversely, if your affairs have not been organized, your family members will shoulder that responsibility should you become incapacitated or pass away. First and foremost, it is important to have an estate plan consisting, at a minimum, of a will, health care proxy and durable power of attorney. In addition, if you are a homeowner, you should also have a homestead declaration, which can protect the equity in your property. A more sophisticated plan, involving one or more trusts, may be in order if circumstances warrant having a trust, such as having property in more than one state or having beneficiaries who can not receive an inheritance outright. By making a will, you express your wishes as to how your estate should be distributed. In addition, you will name your executor, who will be responsible for carrying out your estate. This often eliminates fighting among family members as they are inclined to honor your wishes. A properly drafted will also saves time and money during the probate process. A health care proxy is a document in which you designate someone to make your health care decisions if you are unable to make them for yourself. Similarly, a durable power of attorney names someone to make your financial decisions if you are unable to make them for yourself. Having both of these things in place means that your family members will not have to petition the court to obtain these same powers, which saves time, money and also your privacy. Simply establishing a plan is not enough. It is important that the persons named in key roles in your documents know that these documents exist and know where to find them in the event of your incapacity or death. Many times, people safeguard their documents by putting them in a secure place for safekeeping. The difficulty arises when they have lost capacity or passed away and can not tell anyone where they put them. If your documents can not be found when they are needed, they might as well not exist. Similarly, if someone is to make health care decisions for you, it is important that they know your wishes. Often, living will language is placed into a health care proxy in order to inform the person named about your end of life decisions; however, other more basic care questions should be addressed in a conversation with the person named. It is also important to organize all of your financial information accounts statements, life insurance policies, deeds, etc. which will ensure that should someone have to take over your financial affairs, they will not have to spend a great deal of time just to determine what you own. When someone needs to make financial decisions for you, the transition will be much smoother if your documentation is neatly organized and easily accessible to the person you have named. If the thought of organizing all of your information is overwhelming, you should consider hiring a professional for this purpose. Most elder law attorneys can recommend quality individuals who can assist you with organizing everything from daily mail to mountains of accumulated paperwork. Organizing your estate plan can be one of the most important things that you do to take care of your family as it will allow them to avoid expensive and painful legal hassles. Will your legacy be that of a disastrous mess or a neatly crafted system? Take the steps necessary to establish an organized estate plan, and give your family a final gift of organization. Gina M. Barry is a Partner with the law firm of Bacon Wilson, P.C., Attorneys at Law. She is a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, the Estate Planning Council, and the Western Massachusetts Elder Care Professionals Association. She concentrates her practice in the areas of Estate and Asset Protection Planning, Probate Administration and Litigation, Guardianships, Conservatorships and Residential Real Estate. (413) 781-0560 or gbarry@baconwilson.com.