• 18
  • June
    2010

It is all too common to hear about families that haven't put together an estate plan. Or to hear about families who have parts of an estate plan, but are missing other elements that, inevitably, it turns out they need. Florida estate planning attorneys encounter every permutation of this common situation.

So what are the basics that people should plan to have?

Everyone should have three primary legal documents:

  • A power of attorney, naming someone to handle financial affairs
  • A health care directive, including a living will and designating someone to make medical decisions, and
  • A will, to settle the estate and distribute assets

In addition:

Most people who hope to avoid going to a nursing home should consider long-term care insurance. Some good reasons to get this insurance is to protect assets, and to prevent a situation where Medicaid determines the type of care received.

Long-term care insurance should be purchased while you are young. It will be harder and harder to get as you get closer to needing it.

Choices and plans should be made with as much information as possible. For example, the average nursing home costs $10,000 to $12,000 a month. A live-in caregiver's average cost is $6000 a month.

In some circumstances, a parent living with a child or grandchild could arrange to pay the child/grandchild as their primary caregiver.

It is really important for parents to talk with their children about their end-of-life wishes, then make everything official and legal.

Source: News-Times "Estate planning is for everybody" June 2, 2010                                            aar