When I talk to people about “estate planning,” the most common response is, “I don’t need an estate plan because I don’t have an estate.” The problem is that the word “estate” conjures visions of Hearst Castle or the Biltmore estate. People wrongly assume that they don’t need an estate plan unless they are uber-rich. But the reality is that, in the law, the word “estate” just means “all the stuff someone owns at the time of their death.” So, anyone who owns something (a favorite pair of ...
Do I Really Need A Will?
Following up on my last post, I get a lot of questions about whether people really need wills. The short answer is, of course, it depends! The purpose of a will is simply to announce (in a legally-binding way) your intentions for what should happen to your property and who should care for your minor children after your death. So if you have no kids, no spouse, and no property, then you probably don’t need a will. But once you are married, or have kids, or start to own property (like ...
Living Wills, Powers Of Attorney, And You
For many people, especially young adults, the thought of getting a will is a foreign concept. Many people assume they don’t need one unless they are rich, have kids, etc. I will leave the subject of a will for another post, but I want to make the case that everyone, including young adults, need to have a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care. A what what with a what what? A living will (which confusingly has nothing to do with a “will”) is simply a document in ...