First and foremost, my role as your estate planning attorney is to listen to your concerns and tailor estate planning documents which address your concerns and ensure that the documents are representative of your wishes. Depending on your season of life, your concerns and needs will be different. Each of these seasons present their unique set of excitements, challenges and concerns. It is important to determine what these needs are and prepare the documents which will best meet the needs of my clients. In the following examples, I explore the typical concerns and needs of clients at different seasons of life.
In the summer of our lives, we are in our 40’s and 50’s. It is during this age period that individuals typically start to think about estate planning and retirement. Some of the common concerns are planning for retirement, paying for their children’s college education, building wealth, managing their businesses and succession planning, and taking care of aging parents.
Many individuals in this age group start to think seriously about the preparation of estate planning documents. This concern often develops because he or she has witnessed or administered a probate and knows the consequences of not planning.
During this season of life, some of the estate planning documents that you may want to consider are:
- Last Will and Testament
- Living Trust / Pour-Over Will (depending on his or her assets)
- Guardianship provisions for minor children
- Durable Power of Attorney
- Advance Health Care Directive