Estate Planning and Writing a Will | Hellobee

Talking about and planning for death isn?t something that anyone ever wants to discuss.? It was never topic of conversation around our household, but it is now because Papa Jumper and I are in the midst of planning our estate and preparing our will.? We?ve talked about writing a will for some time now, but have always put it off.? Who wants to think about death?? We?re young and we?re healthy.? The chance of either of us dying any time soon is slim to none.? But what if something happens?? We aren?t prepared.

Papa Jumper and I have been working with a financial advisor for the last six years.? He helps us plan for our future, make investments, and he also oversees our life insurance policies.? Shortly after we found out we were expecting Baby Jumper, we met with our advisor who helped us execute our new financial goals. Since Papa Jumper is the primary source of income in our family, we wanted to increase his life insurance policy.

Papa Jumper travels infrequently for work, but his latest trip out of the country is what made us decide we should really get a move on our planning.? A few weeks ago, I called our advisor to re-write our beneficiaries.? We assumed that all we had to do to protect Baby Jumper (in the event of our deaths) was to appoint her beneficiary of all our policies.? Turns out, that?s not the best thing for us to do.? His advice was to write a will, have all of our assets put into a trust for Baby Jumper, then re-write our beneficiary plans to have all monies go into the trust.? This is great (for us) for a few reasons:

1.? Baby Jumper won?t have instant access to a lump sum of money.? An executor will be named (in our will), who will then be able to use the money to support and raise Baby Jumper.? The court will appoint a person who will oversee the funds to make sure that they?re being used correctly.? In other words, the Executor can?t make a withdrawal to put in a new swimming pool.

2.? The money will be protected from a potentially young and careless person.? This means Baby Jumper can?t blow through her trust fund making frivolous purchases.? It?s meant for her future, not ?right now I really want a cool car because I?m 16.?? We have the choice of making the funds available to her at any age, though the most common are 21 and 25.

Our attorney is helping us plan our estate (what happens to things like our house, cars and our? liquid assets), write a will (who has guardianship over our children, who will be the executor of estate and guardianship, and specify how debts should be paid), set up a power of attorney (who makes medical and financial decisions for us in the event we are unable to make them for ourselves) and a trust fund (where we will put the money from our life insurance and retirement funds).? It sounds like a lot ? and it is ? but it?s an incredibly simple process. Our attorney walked us through every step of the way, and has been making it a very easy and stress-free process. We?re able to update our will as we age, which means we can change anything we want to.

We?ve discussed options with one another, weighed pros and cons, and have appointed people to take care of each portion of our estate.? We?ve named guardians, back-up power of attorneys, and executors of the estate and the trust.? After we decided who we wanted to do what, we approached each person and asked them if they?d be willing to carry out our wishes.? This was an important step for us, and for the people we?ve named ? what if they aren?t strong enough to carry out our medical wishes?? What if they aren?t willing to care for a child, or our future children?? It was important that we all be on the same page before putting everything in writing.

I know this post may be a little overwhelming, so simply put, here?s what we?re doing:

- Naming guardianship of our child(ren)
- Naming the executor of estate.? This person will sell our house, handle our finances, contact billers to inform them of our death
- Setting up a Trustee ? the person who will manage money until Baby Jumper is old enough to do so herself.? We can pre-determine what age we want her to have full access to the funds without the supervision of a Trustee.
- Setting up Medical and Financial Power of Attorney.? This person will make our healthcare and financial decisions in the event we aren?t able to do so for ourselves (or for each other).

Have you ever considered writing a will, or setting up a trust fund?? Or do you already have one in place?

Source: http://www.hellobee.com/2012/07/25/estate-planning-and-writing-a-will/

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