It’s no surprise that Americans spend more time planning their summer vacations than they do planning their estate. After all, a vacation is a trip you want to go on, while the eternal trip is not. However, wouldn’t you travel with more peace of mind if you knew you had taken the necessary steps to protect your family if something unthinkable should happen to you? Here’s some summer vacation planning tips that maybe weren’t on your to-do list.
You need to tackle these five important tasks before you go on that much-deserved summer vacation:
Guardians for minor children
If you have children under the age of 18, you must name a guardian or guardians to ensure that they will never be left in the hands of strangers or people you wouldn’t want raising them. You can name short-term guardians in case of emergency, and then plan for long-term guardianship. We recommend a full Guardianship Plan to ensure there is no gap in your kids care, ever and no matter what.
Beneficiary Review
If it’s been awhile since you updated your beneficiary forms for retirement accounts, life insurance or other assets, it’s time for a review — especially if there has been a major change in your life. Make sure insurance and retirement accounts are never passed on to your minor children, outside of a Trust.
Estate Plan Review
If you have experienced a birth, death, marriage, divorce or other life-changing event since you last updated your estate plan, you need to be sure those changes are reflected by updating your plan.
Advance Health Care Directives
If you become incapacitated and can’t make your own health care decisions, have you named someone who you can depend on to carry out your wishes? If not, you need to execute an advance health care directive that includes a durable power of attorney and a HIPAA release so your medical information can be shared.
Insurance Update
Is your life insurance still sufficient to meet the needs of your family? If not, then you should revise your policy before you go.
Go Explore the World – Pierchoski Estate Law can help you travel knowing that your loved ones are protected for the ‘just-in-case’. Call us at 931.363.7222.
A Note from the Attorney, Stan Pierchoski:
The practice of law is a second career for me. After obtaining Master of Science degrees in both Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering, I worked in the Nuclear Power Industry for 15 years. Always having an interest in law, I attended and graduated from law school and founded the Pierchoski Law Firm in 2002 in Pulaski, TN. For several years I practiced as a criminal defense, trial attorney. After my parents passed I became interested in Trust and Estate Law and felt a strong calling to change my practice to the Estate Planning area.
For years I have been exclusively doing trust writing and wealth planning and have become proficient at it. Over the last several years my practice has evolved to serve all age groups including elders and Medicaid Planning. I am always open to your questions and am more than happy to chat with you about your concerns so give me a call or stop by my office. You’ll be glad you did!