Everyone can benefit from estate planning. And depending on your situation, your needs and priorities may be different from others. That’s why at Hayden Adams Law, we will work with you to tailor the plan to you, so that your plan will achieve the results you want.
Married With Children
When you are married with children, estate planning is usually pretty straightforward. You want your spouse making decisions for you if you are incapacitated, and you want to make sure your assets go to your spouse when you die, and then to your children after your spouse is gone.
Seems simple, right? If only it was our probate courts wouldn’t be clogged with the impact of the complexity of money and family. And, there wouldn’t be $58 Billion of assets in the State Departments of Unclaimed Property across the United States.
There are a myriad of questions that need to be answered to ensure your family stays out of court, and out of conflict, in the event of your incapacity or death. And, some tactical specifics that need to happen to ensure your assets don’t end up lost to the State Department of Unclaimed Property because your family overlooks something when you can’t be there to guide them.
MARRIED, LIFE PARTNERS, Single Folk
You don’t have children, but you do have a spouse, partner, or other loved ones, and you want to ensure things are as easy for them as possible if and when something happens to you. You want to pass on what you have worked so hard for your entire life, and do it in a way that helps your loved ones know and feel your love just when they’ll need to most.
On top of that, and maybe even more importantly, you want to choose who will receive what you’ve worked so hard to create, and also ensure that your “chosen family” will be able to care for and love you, in the event your are incapacitated and cannot make healthcare decisions for yourself.
Your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in your bank account, but by the well-being of the people you love. You care enough to get your estate planning handled so your loved ones will not get stuck in court or conflict, when you become incapacitated or die.
Single Parents
You have the primary responsibility for ensuring the well-being and care of your children. If something happens to you while they are minors, you want to ensure you’ve made the decision about who cares for them, and how.
In the most ideal scenario, your child’s other parent would be suitable to take custody of your child, if you cannot be there. But in many cases, that’s not possible, or desired. And, even if it is, you may want the financial resources you are leaving behind cared for by someone other than your former spouse or partner.
No matter what the scenario, as a single parent (whether your child’s other parent is in the picture or not), you need to take the steps necessary to legally document who you would want raising your child, and how you would want your child raised, and how you want your assets handled for your child, in case anything happens to you.
Blended families
If you are in a second (or third or more) marriage, and you have children from a prior marriage, you must engage in estate planning that will keep the people you love out of conflict.
No matter how close or friendly you think your new spouse and your children are, there is simply an unavoidable, inherent conflict between them upon your death. Having said that, this conflict can be mitigated and you can ensure that the people you love most—your new spouse and your children—will each be well-taken care of with the most ease possible.
You can even take actions to support their being on the same team with each other in a time of grief. It does take planning though, and we are well-trained and highly skilled in planning for the needs of "blended families", which is the term of art in the legal profession for people who are in second (or third or more) marriages with children from a prior marriage.