Elder Law And Estate Planning Checklist
For those who are growing in age or approaching retirement, for those with pre-existing health concerns or with a family history of health problems, or even for those who have hazardous employment or engage in dangerous activities, it is important to be prepared for the worst. This blog post discusses some of the ways you can and should plan ahead to protect you, your family, your healthcare, your finances, and your estate in the event of incapacitation or death. If you have questions about this or have other estate planning needs, our Coventry, RI estate planning lawyer is available to talk.
Creating A Will Or Trust
By executing a will or a trust, you will guarantee that your property will be distributed according to your interests after you die. However, notably, by placing your assets into a trust, you can prevent your assets from going through the probate process, which allows beneficiaries to access and use your assets without waiting for the probate process to close. Furthermore, you can also choose to place some property into a trust, while allowing other parts of your property to pass according to the terms outlined in a will.
Creating A Health Care Power Of Attorney
Rhode Island has a statutory form for creating a health care power of attorney (R.I. Gen. L. § 23-4.10-2). This form allows you to designate an agent who will have the “authority to consent, to refuse to consent, or to withdraw consent to any care, treatment, service, or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or treat a physical or mental condition.” In the event that you become incapacitated, your agent can make health care decisions on your behalf based on your desires and instructions explained in the power of attorney form. This includes your wishes for end-of-life care. Executing a health care power of attorney guarantees that you will receive the kind of care you want if you are unable to communicate those preferences.
Creating A Financial Power Of Attorney
Similar to the health care power of attorney, Rhode Island also allows for a financial power of attorney, which is oftentimes referred to as simply a power of attorney. (R.I. Gen. L. § 18-16-2). With the statutory form, you can designate an agent who will have the authority to make decisions regarding transactions relating to real estate, goods, banking, business operations, and insurance, as well as issues relating to legal claims, military benefits, and other financial records. Furthermore, you can designate whether the agent can perform actions related to all of these issues or whether the agent can only perform actions related to a particular issue or set of issues. A financial power of attorney allows for proper management of your assets in the event that you are unable to manage the assets yourself.
Choosing A Personal Representative, Successor Trustor/Trustee, And Legal Guardians
If any of your property will be passing through a will or probate, you should name a person to serve as Personal Representative of your estate. The Personal Representative’s tasks will include distributing property to beneficiaries and settling any debts with creditors. It is good practice to name an alternate Personal Representative, if your first choice predeceases you or is in some way unable to serve in this role.
If you have property in a trust, it is key to establish successor trustees and beneficiaries, particularly if you are currently the primary trustee or beneficiary. This is to avoid a possible merger, which invalidates a trust and can occur if a person dies while holding both legal title to the trust property and the entire beneficial interest or, in other words, dies while holding both roles of sole trustee and sole beneficiary.
Finally, if you have any minor children, it is important to designate someone who would succeed you as the child’s legal guardian in the event that death or incapacity prevented you from being able to care for your child.
Keep Your Plan Current
If, in the past, you created a will, trust, or power of attorney, it is important to regularly revisit those documents and check if they need to be updated to account for any major life events—such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces—that have taken place since the initial execution of your will, trust, or power of attorney.
Our founder, Geoffrey M. Aptt has over a decade of legal experience, including advising high‑net‑worth families and young families with varied planning needs. He is licensed to practice law in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. If you are looking to execute a will, trust, or power of attorney or need to make changes to one of these, contact Aptt Law LLC today.
