In The News: Sun Lakes Splash: Is Your Estate Plan Working for You?

Here's my most recent article in the Sun Lakes Splash, entitled "Is Your Estate Plan Working for You?" If you'd like to check it out, you can find it here, and by going to page 38.

The Importance of Personalized Advanced Directives

"Legal documents that express our wishes are not enough to prepare us for our final days. We must talk honestly with our loved ones, our clergy and our doctors and nurses about the choices we would make if confronted with a chronic or terminal illness." -- Rosalynn Carter

Advanced Directives, also known as Medical Directives or Healthcare Directives, are an important piece of the estate planning puzzle. There are different types of Advanced Directives, including the following: Healthcare (Medical) Power of Attorney, Living Will, and Mental Healthcare Power of Attorney. Each of these Advanced Directives allow you to give instructions about your healthcare--what you want done or not done--if you can't speak for yourself. Each state has its own laws regarding Advanced Directives and the formalities that need to be followed for your wishes to become effective.

Many people may be tempted to just fill out a form without taking the time to thoroughly think about the decisions they are making and discussing those decisions with their families. Unfortunately, this can lead to family discourse, which could also lead to your wishes not being followed.

Any form you decide to use should be personalized to reflect your individual values, priorities and wishes. If you don't agree with the language in a standard form, change it. Make sure that any directive you sign truly reflects your specific wishes.

So, before you prepare your Advanced Directives, it is important to spend some time considering the following:

1. Who should speak for me?

2. What makes my life worth living?

3. What are my personal and spiritual beliefs?

4. What is the hope for recovery?

5. What are the pros and cons of treatment for different chances of recovery?

You may also wish to take the time to explore your choices about death and dying, such as:

1. How would I like to spend my last days?

2. What are my feeling regarding organ donation and autopsy?

3. Burial arrangements

4. Funeral or memorial services

Because each of us are individuals, every one of us would have different answers to these questions. A colleague recently shared a wonderful tool for helping clients prepare personalized directives, called "Your Life, Your Choices." You can find the workbook here.

While having any kind of Advanced Directive may be helpful, you will have much greater peace of mind if you express your wishes to your family and friends in advance. While talking to your family and friends about your healthcare wishes will probably be uncomfortable, your clear guidance will be a meaningful gift if they are ever forced to make life and death decisions for you in the future. For ideas about how to start the conversation, click here.

Additionally,

To learn more about Advanced Directives in Arizona and Missouri, follow the links below.

Arizona Advanced Directives

Missouri Advanced Directives

Is Your Family Prepared for an Unexpected Tragedy?

Last night, I was checking CNN and read this article about Tom Murphy, a Sprint executive who was returning to Kansas City from a vacation with his family when a boulder fell from a cliff onto his car. Tragically, the boulder hit this man and knocked him unconscious. His wife struggled for over a mile to stop the car from the passenger seat. Upon arrival at the hospital, Mr. Murphy was pronounced dead. Sgt. Rich Armstrong of the Colorado State Patrol, said that while falling boulders are common, fatalities are rare. He has also been quoted as saying that just another half a second and Mr. Murphy wouldn't have been injured.

My heart stopped when I read this story. I don't know Tom Murphy or his family, but I cannot keep my heart from going out to them. What an awful thing for the Murphys' three sons to have to witness. I also can't keep from thinking about what would have happened if Mrs. Murphy had also been seriously injured.

If Mrs. Murphy had been injured to the point where she wasn't able to make decisions about her own medical treatment, the hospital would begin to search for someone with the authority to make decisions for her.

Mr. Murphy had already died, so, unfortunately, the hospital couldn't speak with him. And the Murphy's three children, who were in the accident with them, would not be able to make decisions for their mother because they are all minors.

The hospital would ask the kids if they have any grandparents or relatives they can call. If the hospital is able to get in touch with Mrs. Murphy's next of kin, let's say her sister, the next step would be trying to find out if she had a valid Healthcare Power of Attorney and Living Will in place.

What if the sister didn't know whether Mrs. Murphy had executed these important documents? What if the sister thinks Mrs. Murphy has these documents, but the sister doesn't know where to find them or how to access them? All the while, Mrs. Murphy is being treated in the hospital, but it is becoming increasingly clear that she will never recover from her injuries.

If the hospital only had a copy of these documents, they could determine what Mrs. Murphy's wishes were and proceed accordingly. If Mrs. Murphy had been carrying an emergency information card in her wallet or car from a service such as DocuBank, the hospital could have contacted DocuBank to request copies of Mrs. Murphy's healthcare directives be sent immediately to the hospital.

Instead, let's say that Mrs. Murphy did not have the actual directives in the car, nor did she have a DocuBank card in her wallet. Mrs. Murphy's sister is frantically searching the Murphy's Kansas City home for the directives, while facing the tragic and untimely loss of her brother-in-law and sister. She is also extremely concerned about her nephews, and desperately needs to get to Colorado to care for and comfort them.

The sister can't find any directives, so she heads to Colorado.

Mrs. Murphy and her sister are very close. About three months ago, they had a very deep conversation regarding their lives, and what they would want to have happen if they were in a terrible accident and were not likely to live. Mrs. Murphy stated emphatically that she did not want “stay hooked up to machines” and that she didn’t want to “be a vegetable.”

But, what do these things really mean? What is a “vegetable?” Does it mean a time when you can’t take care of yourself? A time when your brain’s not working but your body is being kept alive by machines? A time when you sit in a chair and don’t do anything all day? Or, when you’re just a body with some life in it?

Unfortunately, Mrs. Murphy never put her wishes and directions to her loved ones in a legal writing, which she then shared with her family and close friends.

The sister breaks down when she sees Mrs. Murphy in the hospital. She recalls the conversation she and Mrs. Murphy had three months ago, but now feels that Mrs. Murphy would have changed her mind since her husband is now gone. The sister feels that Mrs. Murphy would have wanted to continue fighting no matter what in order to be with her kids.

What the sister doesn’t know is that Mr. and Mrs. Murphy had already talked about all these things. They had even talked to an attorney before they went on vacation about preparing their estate plan, including healthcare directives, but decided not to move forward because of the cost—after all, they had lost a lot of money in the stock market this past year and things had been tough financially even though Mr. Murphy had a good job. Instead, they made some notes in a notebook at their house and tucked it away in a drawer, all the while believing that if something would happen to one of them, the other would know what to do.

………………………………..

If you have not taken the time to execute healthcare directives, don’t wait. There is no time like the present. You never know what life is going to throw at you today, tomorrow, or next week.

Take the time to prepare personalized directives and instructions to your healthcare agents, so your wishes will be known and followed, rather than just filling out some form. You may even wish to write a letter to your loved ones, or make an audio or video tape, to share your thoughts and feelings about what is most important to you.

Whatever you do, please make sure your family is prepared.

In The News: Sun Lakes Splash

I recently had my first article published in the Sun Lakes Splash, a monthly newspaper distributed to residents of Sun Lakes, Arizona. If you'd like to check it out, you can find it here, and by going to page 31.

"Rethink Your Legacy" (from Money Magazine)

I recently read a pretty good article in Money Magazine titled "Rethink Your Legacy." I share a number of the same ideas included in the article, and thought it may be of some interest to all of you! To read the article, click HERE.

15 Questions You Must Ask Your Estate Planning Professional

If you've ever hired anyone to prepare a will or a trust, or if you've been thinking about doing so, there are a few questions you simply must ask. Why? Because planning an estate is important--it's important to you and your family. You should know if the professional you work with is experienced and knowledgeable. You should know if the professional you work with cares about the future success of your plan. And, you should know upfront what the entire cost of the plan will be over your lifetime and beyond, not just the fee that is charged to draft the documents.

Here are fifteen questions you must ask when selecting and working with an estate planning professional:

1. Please tell me about your interest, background and experience in the planning field. What percentage of your practice is in estate planning?
2. How do you define estate planning?
3. What is your counseling philosophy?
4. What is your process for working with me to assure that my plan works?
5. How will you counsel me to design my plan?
6. How do we assure that my assets are controlled by my instructions contained in my planning documents? Who is responsible for this coordination, you or me?
7. How do we assure that my plan stays current with changes in the law?
8. What is the level of involvement of my family in the planning process?
9. How do you charge for your services? Specifically, how much will my estate be charged after I'm gone? What if I'm disabled?
10. (If living trust attorney) What is your record with regard to probate? (What percentage of your trust-based plans wind up having assets probated? Do you charge differently for these assets?
11. Do you handle the filing of death tax returns if they're necessary? If you do, how do you charge for that service?
12. What happens if something happens to you?
13. How do I prepare for our consultation?
14. What type of service should I expect from you?
15. Do you expect any commitments from me?

While none of these questions alone should make or break your decision on whether to hire a particular estate planning professional, the answers provided will give you a greater understanding of who the professional is and the process the professional employs while working with client.

Do I Need Life Insurance? - Q's to ask yourself!

Life insurance can play a very important role in the estate planning process. When we are planning an estate, we work with our clients and their other professional advisors, including their life insurance professionals and financial planners, to determine whether or not the client is fully covered, and whether the client could benefit from leveraging their life insurance to leave a legacy for their loved ones or to pay estate taxes.  The following questions may be helpful to you in deciding whether to purchase life insurance or in determining whether the policy you have is adequate for your loved ones' needs. 

Our firm does not sell insurance products - that is not our field of expertise.  If you think you and your family could benefit from life insurance, please contact a qualified life insurance professional in your area. 

DETERMINING THE NEED FOR LIFE INSURANCE

How do I determine if I need life insurance?

To determine if you are a candidate for life insurance, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I have family members who rely on my income? (Consider what would happen to them if you were to suddenly die.)

• If I do die suddenly, how much of my income will my family need to replace and for how long?

• How much debt do I have that needs to be paid off in the event of my premature death?

• How much money should I set aside for my children's college education?

• What are my expected estate tax obligations and expenses at my death and my spouse's death?

• Do I have a business partner who would rather not be in business with my spouse if I died?

• Do I have expected retirement income that may better serve my spouse if I purchase life insurance rather than choosing one of the company's survivorship options?

• Do I want to create an estate for my family or equalize my estate for estate tax purposes?

If any of these questions are applicable to you or your family, you should seek out a qualified life insurance professional and begin educating yourself about the need for life insurance planning.  It is also important to discuss the addition of life insurance with your estate planning professional who will be able to help you determine the best way for you to own the policy under your estate plan.

While not everyone needs life insurance, it is surprising how many people do not have enough information about life insurance to make an informed decision as to how it may be useful for them.

"Determining the Need for Life Insurance" is an excerpt from the book 21st Century Wealth, which is available online from amazon.com.