Lifetime and Estate Planning Document Details

HealthCare Documents

HealthCare Documents empower your named people (your “HealthCare Proxy”) to make medical decisions regarding your healthcare, when you are unable. Your HealthCare Documents are important lifetime documents that allow others to obtain critical medical information and direct your care based on your stated wishes.

One area where clients typically overlook the importance of these documents is setting up these authorizations for their emancipated children. In Massachusetts, once a child of yours reaches the age of 18, they have reached the “age of majority” and obtain full legal autonomy from you, their parent. Most parents do not realize until a crisis occurs that they no longer have any legal authority over their children’s medical or financial matters. If you are a parent of teens or young adults over the age of 18, a Power of Attorney and HealthCare Proxy, from them appointing you their agent, allows you to continue to act on their behalf should they become unable to do so.

Powers of Attorney

Powers of Attorney empower your named people (your “agent”) with authority over your assets, as well as many other optional powers. These powers may be effective immediately (a shared power) or upon some condition, such as your disability. As noted above under HealthCare Documents, Powers of Attorney are very important to set up for your 18-year-old and older children. Where the HealthCare Documents empower you to make medical decisions for your children when they are unable, the Powers of Attorney empower you to communicate and act with regard to your child’s financial and legal matters; such as insurance claims, law suits and others.

Revocable Trusts

Revocable Trusts are essential to contemporary lifetime and estate planning. Trusts allow for a seamless transition of control over your assets, during all circumstances that life may bring. While you are alive and well, you and maybe a co-trustee are in control of providing you the benefits of your trust-owned assets. If you are alive but not well, either through disability, injury, illness or other incapacity, your back-up trustee takes over in providing you benefits from your trust assets. Ultimately, when the creator of a trust (the “Grantor”) passes away, the people named by the Grantor are empowered to distribute your remaining trust assets as per your stated wishes. Revocable trusts are very flexible and may be amended or altered by the Grantor during their lifetime.

Last Wills

Last Wills are the documents with which we are most familiar. Up until a few decades ago, the Last Will was the primary estate planning document. Today, with the focus on lifetime and estate planning, the Last Will is used as a supplement to the Revocable Trust as a planning instrument. Contemporary Last Wills are used as a back-up to the trust, directing that any property not already owned by the trust is to be transferred to the trust through the authority under the Last Will. While we do everything we can to be sure our clients have transferred everything that a trust can own, to the trust, there are occasionally assets that are missed or come afterwards and end up outside the trust. This is where the Last Will is typically used.

Irrevocable Trusts

Irrevocable Trusts are powerful tools for asset protection and preservation, but are not suitable in all circumstances. The transfer of an asset to an Irrevocable Trust is a permanent transfer. Depending upon the type of Irrevocable Trust and its purpose, when you transfer your asset to such a trust, it is no longer yours and no longer available for your benefit. Where in the case of a Revocable Trust, an asset can be taken back out, with an Irrevocable Trust it cannot.

Personal Property Memorandum

A Personal Property Memorandum consists of your directions on how you would like specific items of personal property to be distributed after you are gone. Personal property is distinguished from other trust property in that it is not a “titled” asset; meaning it is not like a bank account or real estate, as these accounts have ownership or “titling” recorded with a financial institution or government agency. The Memorandum could include a division of jewelry, tools, artwork or any other non-titled asset.

Memorial Memorandum

A Memorial Memorandum is a document used to provide guidance to those left behind. It contains your wishes and instructions regarding what you would like to happen after you have passed. Your Memorandum would typically include your wishes regarding burials, memorials and obituary information. While many family members may be fully aware of your wishes in this area, we find that these directions from you are found to be of great comfort and support at a time when they are very much needed.