Essential Estate Planning: The Five Most Important Documents

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Making sure you have the right estate planning documents is one of the simplest ways to have a positive impact on your family’s future. Proper planning ensures that your wishes will be followed and that your family will have less to worry about after you are gone.

Estate planning does not need to be difficult; a few documents can make a big difference. Here are the five legal documents, in order of priority, that everyone should have in place:

1. Durable Power of Attorney

This appoints one or more people to act for you on financial and legal matters in the event of your incapacity. Without it, if you become disabled or even unable to manage your affairs for a period of time, your finances could become disordered and your bills not paid, and this would create a greater burden on your family.

They might have to go to court to seek the appointment of a conservator, which takes time and money, all of which can be avoided through a simple document.

2. Health Care Proxy and Medical Directive

Similar to a durable power of attorney, a healthcare proxy appoints an agent to make healthcare decisions for you when you can’t do so for yourself, whether permanently or temporarily. Again, without this document in place, your family members might be forced to go to court to be appointed guardians. Include a medical directive to guide your agent in making decisions that best match your wishes.

3. HIPAA Release

While the health care proxy authorizes your agent to act for you on health care matters, you may only appoint one person at a time. It may be important for all of your family members to be able to communicate with healthcare providers. A broad HIPAA release — named for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 — will permit medical personnel to share information with anyone and everyone you name, not limiting this function to your health care agent.

4. Will

Your will says who will get your property after your death. However, it is increasingly irrelevant for this purpose as most property passes outside of probate through joint ownership, beneficiary designations, and trusts. Yet your will is still important for two other reasons. First, if you have minor children, it permits you to name their guardians in the event you are not there to continue your parental role.

Second, it allows you to pick your personal representative (also called an executor or executrix) to take care of everything having to do with your estate, including distributing your possessions, paying your final bills, filing your final tax return, and closing out your accounts. It is best that you choose who serves in this role.

5. Revocable Trust

A revocable trust is icing on the cake and becomes more important the older you get. It permits the person or people you name to manage your financial affairs for you as well as to avoid probate. You can name one or more people to serve as co-trustees with you so that you can work together on your finances. This allows them to seamlessly take over in the event of your incapacity.

Revocable trusts are not as simple as the prior four documents because there are many options for how they can be structured and what happens with your property after your death. Drafting a trust is more complicated but also more nuanced, giving you more say about what happens to your assets.

Unless your situation is complicated, these documents are straightforward and the process to create them is not difficult. By drafting an estate plan, you can save your family a great deal of strife, difficulty, and cost at an already tough time.

Author Bio

Alexander Gil was admitted to the Florida Bar in September of 2014. His focus is primarily in the areas of estate planning, special needs planning, asset protection planning, guardianship administration, and probate administration.

Alexander graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 2014. In addition to his law degree, Alexander earned a Masters in Taxation from the University of Miami School of Law Joint Degree Program. He was a Staff Editor for the Inter-American Law Review.

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Alex has been amazing throughout the whole process of my estate planning. He was able to make recommendations based on my family of what pieces to set up and walked me through why he recommended each. He's prompt on his follow up for questions and has made understanding all the documents really easy. I dreaded having to do the process until I was able to meet with Alex and calmed me down and made me feel good about the process. I'd give him 10 stars if I could.

C. U.

We recently had a beloved family member pass away and we had several questions regarding the estate. In just one thirty minute consultation, Alexander Gil identified the key issues for us to consider and provided the answers we needed to decide how to move forward. Alex followed up on our consult by reviewing documents we provided him and confirming his assessment of the situation. Our family was very impressed with his ready knowledge and caring attitude. We will certainly be engaging Alex's firm to handle our estate planning needs.

A. G.

If you ever find yourself looking for an estate planning attorney, words cannot express how much I recommend Alexander Gil. Virtual meetings where we have discussed legal matters have always been a breeze. Alex is a genuine and caring attorney who will always advocate for his clients. It's easy to tell he's not just in it for the job; he's in it to get the best for you. His expertise is unmatched and is devoted to making the process as least intimidating as possible.

M. R.

I first meet Alex when he was presenting for parents on Wills and Trusts and immediately was impressed with his approach and understanding. We proceeded with his services. Not only was he professional but he was very understanding and took the time to hear us and explain every step while answering every question we had. As a parent of a special needs adult, the process can be overwhelming and somewhat depressing but he assured us and helped us feel very good about our plans. He is now our attorney for life! Thanks Alex!!

Y. H.

Alex Gil worked with me at a very difficult time in my life. My partner had just passed away and Alex was there for me every step of the way to handle the execution of her Will and Trust. Alex ALWAYS was responsive and provided expert advice and this in my opinion is what separates Alex Gil. I have worked with many attorneys in my life due to owning my own business for the last 30 years and I HIGHLY recommend Alex based on responsiveness and cost!

A. K.