As you contemplate the concept of your estate plan, you may think mostly about how to pass on the assets you’ve accumulated during your life to your loved ones. This can include considerations around taxes, who is most responsible for receiving lump sum benefits and who may need additional control, such as assets placed inside a trust and distributed over time.
Upgrade Your Estate Plan to Include End of Life Issues
Those issues are certainly key, but it is equally important to think about issues that may occur at the end of your life.
These can center around issues like your health care, your financial management and what happens to your assets should you need to tap into them. End of life planning is expected to become more popular as longevity numbers increase. People are living longer but are also facing healthcare issues later in age.
One in four adults over age 65, for example, will need some type of long-term care planning, such as a stay at an assisted living or nursing home facility for at least a short period of time.
How an Estate Planning Attorney Helps with End of Life Issues
End of life planning should be done with the help of a knowledgeable estate planning and elder lawyer. This includes thinking about things, such as end of life care, medical treatment wishes, and advanced health care directives. If you have certain things you’d like respected in the future, or people you trust who you would want to help make these decision on your behalf, then you need the support of a qualified attorney in MA.
You may also wish to update your estate plan if you are concerned about who will take care of your affairs if you were to develop dementia or some other cognitive condition that may impair your ability to handle things yourself.
