Estate Planning is Important - Even When You Are Young and Healthy

It's a fairly common belief that estate planning is something that most people do not worry about until they start reaching retirement age. However, I believe that there are three times in a person's life where having an estate plan, and updating the plan become important that all occur relatively early in life. The three milestones are: 1) upon entering into a career; 2) after becoming married, and 3) after having children. At each of these stages, there are very important aspects of estate planning that everyone should consider taking advantage of.

What is Estate Planning?

Simply put, estate planning is the ability for you to make your wishes known. Why is this important? Because unfortunately, accidents happen. Without an estate plan in place, things can get quite complicated when issues arise regarding your medical treatment and your property in the event that you are not in a position to act on your own behalf.

The biggest obstacle in everyone's way in regards to planning for the future, is the scary notion that something could happen to us. But I've always been told that it is better to be safe then sorry, especially when creating an adequate plan for an unexpected event is relatively easy and inexpensive.

Keep reading, and discover the reasons that I believe everyone should have an estate plan early in life, and revisit that plan as the circumstances arise.

Estate Planning when Starting a New Career

Creating a Medical Directive - A medical directive is likely the document that people believe is the most important, because it is your chance to tell your doctors how you wish to be treated in the untimely event of a medical emergency. This important document can be as specific as you wish, directing your doctors to continue all their efforts to keep you alive, or to grant them the ability to remove life support if you are unlikely to ever recover. Now don't be afraid here, Ohio has very specific laws that doctors must follow even if you do grant them the authority to 'pull the plug'. Even still, it is important for you to make this decision in a medical directive to remove any questions regarding the subject, and to save your family members from the daunting task of making these decisions for you.

Creating a Medical Power of Attorney - A medical power of attorney works hand in hand with the Medical Directive mentioned above. Essentially, any decisions that you do not want to make on your own in advanced, you can grant to a person of your choosing. Under this document, you can empower someone to make the decisions for you, and most importantly, you get to choose who that person is. Generally, most single individuals would want their parents to make that decision for you, but by taking time to create a medical power of attorney, all questions as to who has the authority to make the decision will be answered well before the issue arises. 

Creating a Durable Power of Attorney - The durable power of attorney is relatively similar to the medical power of attorney above, however, this one covers all legal issues, including: your house, car, bank accounts, contracts, etc. Basically, this power of attorney allows you to grant someone the power to act on your behalf should you be unable to do so. Why is this important? Because if the unfortunate circumstances arise that you are needing medical support, it may be necessary for your power of attorney to take actions to support your financial future, and without a power of attorney, those decisions cannot be made quickly.

Creating a Will - As you enter the workforce, many wonderful things start happening. First off, you have income! You may have purchased a car or a new home, start collecting vinyl records (like I do), and are likely to begin investing in your future financially. It is important in this stage of life to start thinking about what would happen to all of these assets in the future. Frankly put, if you don't have a plan as to what will happen to these assets in the case of an untimely death, the State and it's laws will be making the decisions for you. A basic Will is important as you can designate, as specifically or as generally as you like, who is to receive the assets that you have worked hard to acquire. Not only are your wishes made known, but it saves your family from potential fights that I have often seen arise. By spending a few minutes to create a plan, you create peace of mind for yourself, and for your family.

Estate Planning When Getting Married

The first time it becomes important to re-visit your estate plan is when you get married. First off, you will likely want to place all the decision making authority under your Medical and Durable Powers of Attorney to your spouse. These documents become increasingly important when you get married because your spouse and family members may have different opinions in a time of crisis. Terri Schaivo is a perfect example of this situation in which her husband and family fought over how Terri should be treated for fifteen years as she remained in a permanent vegetative state. Had Terri created a Medical Directive or Medical Power of Attorney, these issues would never have made it to court or the national news. Having an estate plan creates peace of mind and explains to your family members how things should be to avoid the potential for disputes. 

Also, at this time its important to revisit your will to make sure that things would be distributed accordingly, so that your spouse is taken care of in the event of an unfortunate accident, and to make sure that disputes don't arise with your family members. You may also find that your wishes have tend to change now that you share your life with another person fully.

Estate Planning After Having Children

Easily the most important aspect of estate planning after you have children is making sure that they are taken care of should something happen to you. While this usually means financially, it also allows for you to designate who would be the guardian of your children should your spouse be involved as well. The thing I always think of is poor Bruce Wayne who lost both of his parents at the same time and was left to be raised by Alfred in the mansion all by himself. Assuming your estate isn't large enough to fund your child's obsession with vigilante justice, it's important to designate caring and loving people who will be able to raise your children in the event that you are unable to do so yourself.

As you can see, estate planning is extremely important for younger individuals, maybe even more important than it is for those that are already further along in life.

Contact me today and we can get the ball rolling on making sure that you have the plans in place to protect your future!

What every young adult should know about medical powers of attorney and HIPAA

If you are over the age of eighteen, and unmarried, this blog article is important for you.

Only recently have I made the shocking realization that I am not as protected as I hoped to be. While talking to a colleague this week, I made the discovery that I have left my future in potential jeopardy. The reason being, that if I was ever to become unable to make decisions for myself, I have not designated someone to act on my behalf, with either medical, legal, or financial decisions.

Once you turn 18, your parents have no legal authority to make decisions on your behalf.

Yes, it is true. Once you turn 18 you are an adult in the eyes of the law, which means that you alone have the authority to make your medical and legal decisions. But, what happens if (knock on wood) you were to suffer an accident leaving you unconscious or otherwise unable to make decisions? Who gets to make the decisions for you when you are incapable of making them yourself? Well the answer is simple: you must be legally married for your spouse to have the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf; otherwise, your doctors have the final say.

Recently I heard stories from two mothers who were confronted with this reality head-on. One relayed to me the heartbreaking tale of rushing to an emergency room after her 19 year-old son suffered an accident that threatened his respiratory system. However, when she arrived at the hospital and demanded information from the nurses and doctors, she was met with the frustrating reply, "I'm sorry ma'am, but your son has not authorized us to release that information to you." With her son in too much pain to speak, she was forced to remain in the waiting room praying, while the doctors made the decisions for him. I do not mean to suggest that the doctors should not be trusted, after all, they spend years learning to make the best decisions. However, its important to know that someone that cares for you on an emotional level can make the right decision for you, after gaining full knowledge from the medical experts.

The real truth is that without legal documents in place, a parent loses the ability to make their children's medical decisions the day they turn 18. Thankfully, a correctly made Health Care Power of Attorney can relinquish this problem. This document not only authorizes the person of your choosing to make decisions for you, but it also can authorize your doctors to release your medical information to specific relatives, relieving their agony of having the sit in the waiting room praying with the inability of being involved.

The best course of action is to also complete what is called a medical directive, or a living will. This document is your chance to put on paper what you would wish to happen should you be unable to make decisions for yourself. It is your opportunity to have your voice heard, even if you were in an unconscious state. While documents such as this made be hard to think about, they are extremely important if the need for them was ever to arise.

Contact me today to talk about putting in place the right legal documents to protect your future, as you see it.

Estate Planning: It's not a DIY Project

In this day and age, with information regarding any potential topic that the heart desires available at your fingertips via the internet, many people are becoming self-sufficient by learning the ins and outs of various topics and attempting to tackle them on their own. While DIY projects around the house are a great endeavor for any homeowner, there are certain things that you should still at least consult a professional for.

The most important of these is your future planning, both financially and legally.

While I do not work in financial planning, my colleagues that do will tell you how important it is to plan for your financial future at a young age, long before you'll need to use your plan. As a legal professional, its the same case when talking about your legal future. Estate planning is important from an early age, long before you will ever think about needing it.

Estate planning is not a DIY project.

A basic google search will reveal a multitude of websites that will explain to you the basics of drafting a will or a trust. Many such cites will even give you a fill-in-the-blank sample to use for a small fee. While these type of websites may claim that they are complete and 'the same as an attorney generated will', they lack the most important thing that any good estate plan has; professional knowledge and expertise tailored to each individual.

What many clients don't realize, is that while attorneys do generally charge per document, you are not paying that attorney for the words on the page. What you are paying that attorney for is his or her time and expertise in creating an estate plan that is the best possible decision for you individually. You are paying for the knowledge that the attorney has gained through the years of school and practice.

Websites and pre-generated forms do not alter themselves to meet your needs.

I always offer my clients a free consultation whenever they are interested in estate planning. The purpose of the consultation is to discuss the client's situation, for me to understand their desires, and to craft a specifically tailored plan that will serve their needs efficiently and effectively. For example, many times a client believes that to accomplish their goals requires a formal trust, when in reality, creative drafting can solve their issues with a simple will. It is insight such as this that will never be replaced by online content.

Long story short, it is worth the time to sit down and speak with an attorney about your needs. Take the time today, our consultations our free and non-binding. 

Estate Planning: It's Not Just Something Your Parents Should Do

It seems to me that whenever I talk to someone from my generation about the type of law that I practice, they are never interested in what is called estate planning. I believe that the common misconception is that estate planning is only for the older generations, while the younger generation who are only fresh out of college have nothing to be gained from taking the time to plan for the future. However, estate planning is much more than the video recordings lawyers play after the death of a loved one that we see in the movies, it has a real a practical objective than every adult should take advantage of. In this blog post, I'll explain the real advantages to beginning to plan for your estate now, and consistently updating things as they are needed.

Misconception 1 - Estate Planning is for only after I'm gone.

Wrong! Estate Planning covers medical and legal issues that arise often.

The biggest misconception that many people have is that Estate Planning only covers issues that arise after someone has passed away. In actuality, the majority of the documents that I normally recommend to clients interested in fully planning for the future include documents that are necessary to help their loved ones care for them while they are still alive. 

Heaven forbid your are ever in an accident or diagnosed with a disease that renders you unable to care for yourself or make decisions for yourself, either permanently or temporarily, it is important that you have in place basic estate planning documents that authorize people of your choosing to act on your behalf. Plus, these documents can direct this person and your doctors to make decisions in accordance with the specifications that you set out.

Why are these documents so important, you may ask? The short and simple answer is that without these documents being in place, your doctors and the government will have the power to make the decisions for you, and often times, there is little your family can do to change things when time is of the essence. If you were to become incapacitated either mentally or physically, your family would be required to seek out the court's assistance in authorizing them to make the decisions for you, a sometimes costly procedure in terms of both money and time. You may think that your parents are automatically authorized to act on your behalf, but in actuality, their legal authority to do so is quite limited once you become an adult, without assistance from a court, that is.

The most important documents that we help our clients to complete are:

• Living Will: The purpose of a living will is to specify what you wish to happen under certain circumstances. Both your doctors and your family are required to abide by the wishes that you put in your Living Will should you ever become incapacitated and unable to make decisions for yourself. For example, in this document you could specify that your family is never allowed to remove life sustaining support, or you could require them to do so after a certain period of time. The choice is up to you in this document.
• Power of Attorney: A power of attorney is a document that authorizes someone of your choosing to act on your behalf in regard to legal matters, should you ever become incapacitated. In the document, you can authorize them to act on your behalf for only specific reasons or for any reason, and you can limit how they should act and direct them any way you see fit. This document is what would allow your family to sell your home, refinance your mortgage, enter into contracts for long-term care, and all other legal issues that you would otherwise need to attend to.
• Health Care Power of Attorney: This document is similar to the legal POA, however this document authorizes certain individuals to make their own decisions regarding your medical care. In the Living Will, you decide what you want to happen. However, in the HCPOA, you authorize others to make the decisions for you. Again, you can limit this authority in anyway that you see fit, but it is important because it directs someone who can gather all of the information at the time to make the best decision possible for you.

Even if you don't have much in the way of assets, or even if you are still living on your parents couch, the above documents are necessary for every adult to help avoid confusion and delay should you ever be in a position in which you are unable to act on your own behalf.

Misconception 2 - I only need to write a will when I have assets I want to give to specific people

Wrong! Estate Planning documents will be important to your loved ones.

It might not be the most comfortable subject to discuss, but the most important reason for creating a Last Will and Testament or placing your property in Trust isn't necessarily only to designate which relative is to receive your beloved car or your favorite guitar. The most important reason for someone to have a will is to avoid the court procedures that will be necessary if you do not have one. 

Probate is the processes of going to court to determine how your assets should be divided and how your debts should be paid. Often, this procedure can end up being very costly and quite lengthy in time. One thing to note is that the lawyers who help with this procedure are usually paid directly from your assets, prior to them being disbursed to your loved ones. Furthermore, if you do not have a will, then a probate judge will be the one who determines what happens to the family heirloom that you owned. Quite often, the easiest answer when two people are fighting over something of value, is to sell the item and distribute the proceeds evenly. Bye, bye family heirloom that has been passed down for generations.

Finally, this procedure can often get quite heated and cause a rift between family members. However, a clearly written will that devises of all the individuals property can hardly be argued with, allow for family members to accept that decisions that have been made and to move on.

Misconception 3 - I should worry about this later.

Wrong! Call me today to talk about your estate. You never know when these documents will be important.

Andrew Ferguson

Contact information available at www.murraylawandtitle.com

What to know about Renting

Long before I ever finished law school or became a licensed attorney, my friends would always ask me legal questions, either hypothetically related to the conversation, or based on their own lives or those of people they knew. More often than not, the topic was related to landlord/tenant law; fitting as most of my friends, as well as myself, were students at the time who were merely renting for the school year. 

Today, with only a few months as an attorney, I've handled multiple cases that deal with this issue directly. Since I know that I am still a renter, and many people in my generation have yet to take the leap to home ownership, I'd like to share with you some of the key tips that I have learned about renting an apartment or a home:

Before Moving In - Get the facts about the lease: How long does it last? Will you need to sign a new lease after that or will it be month to month? How much is the security deposit? What utilities will you be responsible for? Do they allow pets? Is their laundry on site? Storage? Is there parking available? Etc. 

While many of these questions seem obvious, its easy to forget them during a quick tour the landlord provides. If you forget something, call and ask before you sign. The only way to avoid renter's remorse is to have all the facts available when you finally make that decision.

Move-In Day - Take pictures, take pictures, take pictures! The day that I moved into my apartment was the day that I found every blemish, fault, scratch and other problem with the walls and appliances. I documented every single one I could find before I moved in a single piece of my own property. Keeping records of the conditions prior to moving in will help you to restore the property to the way it was given to you, the only thing that is required by a tenant upon moving out.

Furthermore, many landlords require, and I would encourage if they don't, that the tenant prepare a list of any item in the property that is damaged. The landlords require this list so they know what they can easily charge you for when you move it. If you didn't put it on the list, you can bet it will come out of your security deposit. All tenants should complete this list fully so that they have documentation of what the landlord cannot charge them for. Nothing is too small for this list. You see that scratch on the front door kick plate? Put it down! It certainly can't hurt you.

During the Lease - Report any issues that you have with the property immediately, especially if it wasn't your fault, and even if it was. Reporting issues promptly ensures two things: 1) the landlord has notice of the problem and that it should be fixed, and 2) if it wasn't your fault, you won't be paying for it. Days after I moved into my apartment, the landscaping company that cuts the grass put a rock through my car window. By immediately reporting the incident, not only was the window fixed quickly, but I was credited for the repairs on my next rent payment.

Abide by the terms of the lease. The worst thing that a tenant can do is breach the terms of the lease. If the lease says no pets, don't be sneaking fido in the backdoor. Landlords know all the tricks and you won't get away with it. Instead, be open with your landlord and ask if the lease could be amended to allow for dogs. Being open and honest will cause your landlord to not only respect you, but may also allow for fido to be a resident at your apartment at minimal cost to you.

Finally, don't forget to make your rent payments on time, everytime. 

Upon Move-out - Time to get your elbow grease to work. Whenever its time to move out of your apartment, the best thing to do is to create a schedule that allows you to move out all of your belongings 2-3 days prior to the lease ending. Removing all of your items will help you thoroughly deep clean the entire place. Here, its about making it as new looking as possible, in fact, if you can clean it better than the day you moved it, do it! Every hour you spend will help you regain those value security deposit dollars. 

Remember, that a landlord must either refund your security deposit or give you an itemized list of the deductions are made within thirty days of the lease ending. BUT, remember that as a tenant, you are required to remove all of your possessions, return the keys, and provide your landlord with a forwarding address in writing. 

Hopefully these tips and tricks are helpful to you in whatever leasing situation you are in. If you find yourself in any sort of dispute with your landlord, contact me today to determine your rights and remedies.