As you go through life, there will be many joys that come your way – retirement, travel, grandchildren, and new life adventures. Inevitably, we also know that this journey comes with moments of sadness or grief, especially when we lose a life partner or family member due to their unexpected death. This void in your life can be devastating, causing mental and emotional stress. During this time, the last tasks you want to be focused on are searching for documents, having disagreements with family members, or even wondering if you’re financially prepared to handle their death.
From life insurance to disposition of property, having the right plan and documents in place can save you time, money and prevent additional grief and stress brought on by not having a proper estate plan in place. Planning allows you and your family to concentrate on the most critical moments during difficult times: supporting each other, celebrating your loved one, and finding time for healing.
- Estate planning involves determining how an individual’s assets will be preserved, managed, and distributed after death or in the event they become incapacitated.
- Planning tasks include making a will, setting up trusts, making charitable donations to limit estate taxes, naming an executor and beneficiaries, and setting up funeral arrangements.
- A will is a legal document that provides instructions on how an individual’s property and custody of minor children, if any, should be handled after death.
Life Insurance
In the event of the death of you or your loved one, inevitably there will be expenses, loss of household income, debts, liens, etc. that linger and have to be addressed. Having life insurance, as the name implies, ensures that there is a financial cushion to bear the brunt of these sometimes-unexpected fiscal responsibilities. For generally a reasonable monthly amount, you and your loved ones can purchase a life insurance policy to hedge against the financial fall-out of a death or serious illness/injury. Some policies have even more sophisticated provisions that allow you to borrow against them for life’s purposes while you’re still alive!
Powers of Attorney
When you or a loved one somehow become temporarily or permanently incapacitated, serious and important decisions still have to be made with regard to handling specific matters. Your validly executed powers of attorney for medical and financial decisions will allow a smooth transition for your designee to step in on your behalf in accordance with your stated wishes.
Will
How we want our assets handled or disposed of, or how we want our liabilities addressed or paid for upon our death is never a no-brainer. We want to give specific items to certain people. We want certain property liquidated and proceeds divided up amongst a set of individuals. We may want trusts set up for certain assets for the benefit of individuals, or even organizations. A validly executed will can do all of this and more, and avoid your property being divided up according to how the government deems fair if you don’t have one (i.e. to die intestate). While wills still have to go through probate court, having a will, absent objection, can make the final home-going process much easier for your executor and loved ones.
Trust
Probably one of the most misunderstood and yet one of the most viable and versatile estate planning tools is the trust. Put simply, people set up trusts to transfer assets, property, etc. in the hands of the custodians (i.e. trustees) to be used and handled in accordance with the outlined wishes of Grantor(i.e. the person setting up the trust) for the benefits of the named and unnamed beneficiaries. While trusts already outline how the assets within should be handled and/or disposed of in the event of death, pour over wills are usually partnered with the documents in order to make sure that all property is accounted for upon death. One of the key reasons for setting up a trust is to avoid unnecessary costs and/or delay in having the disposition of assets and the administration of an estate be stalled by having to be processed through probate court.
CWI Estate Planning A La Carte Services
CWI recognizes that some of you may already be in various stages of setting up your estate plans. Good for you! We also recognize that you may need notary and/or execution assistance in order to make the documents valid and enforceable. The CommonWealth Initiative provides notary and execution services starting at $35 per hour, depending on the level of services that need to be provided. Contact us!
Estate Planning is easier than you think.
THE CWI ESTATE PLAN PROCESS
2. Estate plan questionnaire completion
3. Document preparation and client review
4. Delivery and execution documents
CWI provides affordable document assistance services to guide your estate planning process. In four steps, CWI creates attorney-prepared legal documents to ensure your estate plan meets your needs:
-
-
- CWI Estate Plan For INDIVIDUALS
-
$1,499.00
- Pour-Over Will
- Revocable Living Trust
- Power of Attorney [Financial and Health]
- Trust Document Organizer / Abstract
- Notary and document signing, (up to 14 days for document completion)
-
-
- CWI Estate Plan For COUPLES
-
$1,999.00
- Two Pour-Over Wills
- Revocable Living Trust
- Power of Attorneys for both partners [Financial and Health]
- Trust Document Organizer / Abstract
- Notary and document signing, (up to 14 days for document completion)
Estate Planning Legal Disclaimer
The CommonWealth Initiative (CWI) provides legal document assistance services to its estate planning clients. CWI is not a law firm nor a substitute for an attorney or law firm. Clients are encouraged to consult an independent attorney for legal advice. Communications between clients and CWI are protected by our Privacy Policy but not protected by the attorney-client privilege or work-product doctrine. CWI cannot provide advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, or selection of forms or strategies.
