You make preparations for events that will take place after you pass away when you plan your estate, and this is self-evident. At the same time, end of life planning is also an important part of the process.
After your active retirement years are behind you, there are certain eventualities that you may face when you enter the latter stages of your life. One of them is possible incapacity.
People often become unable to communicate due to medical conditions, and this is one form of incapacity. There are also those who become mentally unable to handle their own affairs. A major culprit in this regard is Alzheimer’s disease.
Everyone has heard of Alzheimer’s disease, but many people are not aware of the extent of the problem. Around four out of every 10 people who are at least 85 are suffering from the disease. Alzheimer’s causes dementia, and people with this condition are typically going to become unable to handle their own decision-making.
When you wrap your head around these realities, you can see why end of life planning is important. One document that you would want to include in your plan would be a living will. This type of will has nothing to do with monetary matters. A living will is used to state your preference regarding the utilization of life-sustaining measures like feeding tubes, artificial hydration, and artificial respiration.
A living will is an advance directive for health care, but this directive focuses solely on the matter of life-support. There are other health care decisions that may present themselves toward the end of your life. With a health care proxy, you could name someone to make these decisions on your behalf if you become unable to communicate them on your own.
Your plan could also include a durable financial power of attorney. In this document, you name an agent or attorney-in-fact. This agent would be empowered to handle your financial affairs in the event of your incapacitation.
We should also point out the fact that you could empower a disability trustee to administer your trust if you use a revocable living trust as a vehicle of asset transfer.
Free Report on End of Life Planning
We have provided a bit of food for thought in this brief blog post, but you can learn more about end of life planning if you download our in-depth special report. The report is free to our readers, and you can visit this page to access your copy: End of Life Planning Report.
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There is a great deal to take into consideration when you are planning your estate. If you would like to obtain additional information, visit this page: Forbes Contributor Mark Eghrari.
Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney
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