Everett Estate Planning Attorney

Estate planning refers to the process of organizing your wishes and desires concerning various end-of-life matters, such as the division of property and assets, and even medical care. Your estate plan encapsulates in writing what you find most important and provides a guide for managing your affairs when you pass away or during your lifetime if you become unable to make decisions for yourself. A properly drafted estate plan must plan for incapacity during life as well distribution of assets upon your passing. Without pre-planning, your loved ones might have no idea about what to do for you in an emergency or healthcare crisis or might not even have the legal power to help you.

The exact details of estate planning vary widely depending on the person’s wishes and the size/complexity of their estate but typically involve the following components.

Will

The Will is the most essential part of your estate plan and establishes two key things: 1) it designates your personal representative and 2) dictates how they will distribute your assets and property. In other words, your Will specifies who gets what when you pass away and who is in charge of distributing the assets.

Without a Will or alternative plan, it is up to the courts to appoint an administrator who will be responsible for distributing your assets following Washington’s intestate laws. The court-appointed representative could be required to pay a surety bond, the cost of which depends on their credit score and the size of your estate.

A Will can also establish guardianship of minor children. Without this instruction, your family may have to go through divisive court proceedings about children’s physical and legal custody.
A knowledgeable estate planning attorney can also help you incorporate Trusts into your Will that come into effect after your death. These Testamentary Trusts can protect your assets for your minor children, protect your beneficiaries from creditors reaching their inheritance, plan to reduce estate tax responsibilities, or even protect assets from being counted by the government for Medicaid applicants.

Power of Attorney

Another important aspect of estate planning is signing a Power Of Attorneys and designating someone to make decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. The point of a Power Of Attorney is to choose someone you trust to make decisions for you when you cannot. Even if you have family members you trust will make the decisions you would prefer, appointing an agent through a power of attorney takes all the guesswork out of what to do for you. Importantly, effective, well-drafted durable powers of attorneys avoid court-ordered and supervised legal guardianship and conservatorship.

Trusts

A Revocable Living Trust is one that you fund and control yourself during your lifetime. A primary purpose of such a Trust is to avoid probate upon death. Revocable Living Trusts do not offer the same level of asset protection and tax benefits that Irrevocable Testamentary Trusts do, but they do offer advantages such as passing on inheritance without need for probate, offering privacy. Those with real property in multiple states might choose Revocable Living Trusts to avoid having to plan for multiple probates across multiple states.

If you create a Testamentary Trust (a Trust that is incorporated in your Will and only goes into effect at your death), the assets you direct through your Will to that Trust belong to the Trust, managed by the trustee. This means the beneficiary does not legally own the assets, but they are directed to be used for the benefit of your beneficiary. This kind of Trust can be good for protecting your assets from the beneficiary’s creditors, maintaining eligibility for Medicaid benefits for Long-Term Care, or even minimizing estate taxes.

Additionally, there are Special Needs Trusts. Special Needs Trusts can be created during life for disabled people, allowing them to retain eligibility for government programs while providing some money for extras.

Beneficiary Designations

Beneficiary designations on accounts name a person or persons who will inherit a specific asset when the owner passes away. For instance, if your spouse is the designated beneficiary on an account, then your spouse will receive the assets when you die. Common examples of instruments that have beneficiary designations are life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and bank accounts.