NEXT AVENUE - SPECIAL SECTION
A will is not a set-it-and-forget-it document. If, for example, the person designated as your executor dies while you're alive, you'll need to update the will and appoint a replacement. Savage noted that she's also a fan of a revocable living trust. It's an estate planning document. Like a will, it says who'll get your assets when you die. But unlike a will, it also lets you provide instructions for what you'd like a designated person to do for you while you're alive, if you can't. Be sure to hire a lawyer if you want a revocable living trust drawn up. Getting one done correctly is complicated and requires naming the trust the beneficiary for each of your assets in it. A revocable living trust might run you $2,000 to $5,000, Krueger said. Advance Directives and LivingWills The flipside of a will, for estate planning, is ensuring that your wishes are carried out while you're alive if you can't due to, say, a serious accident, dementia or a stroke. These documents include a durable health care power of attorney (to appoint someone to make health decisions for you), a financial power of attorney (to make money decisions for you), and a living will (to provide instructions on whether you'd want heroic medical measures to be taken for you). Many people haven't gotten around to arranging for these. "Some of the smartest people in my life have told me, 'I should do that. I haven't done that,’" said Krueger. These types of documents, Savage noted, can be found online. And they're fairly simple, as long as you spell out your instructions. Just be sure they're ones that apply in your state, Savage said. "Bring the health care power of attorney and your living will to your physician," Savage advised. That way, your doctor will know who'll handle your medical matters and what your end- of-life wishes are. Krueger offered a personal reflection regarding her late mother. "I thank God my mom had a living will. It made it easy for me to make a really difficult decision," she said.
How Do I Create a LivingWill? Next Avenue offers a free four-lesson email course that will walk you through the steps necessary to establish an advance directive, clarifying your preferences in a health care setting if you can’t speak for yourself. Lesson One: What’s a Living Will? Lesson Two: The Decisions Lesson Three: Making Things Official Lesson Four: Sharing and Storing Your Living Will Go to NextAvenue.org/fast-forward to find these and other courses and guides to help put a plan in place for aging.
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