Back to School Checklist for Estate Planning
I don’t know about you, but back-to-school shopping was so much fun for me as a kid! You would get your teacher’s list and then you’d pick out new pencils and a backpack and notebooks, and clothes! You were entering a new grade with a new teacher, and the whole year was filled with promise and so many things to learn!
Estate planning can be a lot like back-to-school shopping! It can be exciting and full of hope for your legacy and future.
But if you don’t have a good game plan, a good list, it can feel really daunting. But it doesn’t have to be! Let’s look at our list and unpack how each item can make your life so much easier.
Uniform – The Estate Plan
Many kids need uniforms for their schools they attend. We like to think of the estate plan as a whole, as your uniform.
Like a uniform, the estate plan is designed to cover you and protect you. It has everything in order, so there isn’t the extra burden of intestate probate for your already grieving loved ones.
Just like how each year children get new uniforms that fit them properly, it’s important to review your estate plan! If you don’t have one, you need one. And if you have one, it’s important to review it yearly to make sure it still fits your situation and family. If it does, great! If it doesn’t, make those tweaks!
When estate planning is treated like a living thing, it beautifully serves the estate and family it is designed to protect! When it’s ignored and forgotten, well, that’s when issues and problems tend to arise.
So, as you’re picking out new school clothes for your children or buying them uniforms in a larger size, remember that your estate has also grown or changed since you last created your plan. Give it the time and TLC it needs
Backpack – The Trust
The trusty backpack. The most underrated and important piece of the school year. It carries everything!
In the estate planning world, the Trust is a lot like a backpack. It does a ton of heavy lifting when used properly.
Trusts are powerful tools that can actually prevent your family from having to go through the probate process after your death.
Like a backpack, you can put things into the Trust to be owned by the Trust and used as the trustee deems fit— according to the rules laid out in the Trust agreement. So, at the time of your death, you don’t own the assets. Your Trust does. And the Trustee has to follow the rules for what to do with your assets at the time of your death.
Imagine this: you’ve passed away. Your spouse and children are devastated. They miss you and they are struggling to find their rhythm without you in their world. Because you created a Trust and all of your assets are owned by the Trust, they don’t have to go to Court for anything. Your trusty backpack saves them a year of stress, hunting for paperwork, sending accounting to the court, and having to appear in Court.
A good backpack carries the weight. A good Trust alleviates a burden. We love a good backpack!
Pencils – The Advance Directive
Pencils help you write things down, make notes, and prepare well for exams. The Advance Directive for Health Care is the pencil of the estate planning back-to-school checklist.
This is because the Advance Directive is a legal document done in preparation for difficult medical situations. It has two purposes: 1.) it allows you to name someone to act on your behalf to make medical decisions if you cannot; and 2.) it allows you to make medical decisions in advance for your care in the event you aren’t able to make them in real time.
This pencil is on your back-to-school estate planning checklist helps you prepare well for the unthinkable. It allows you to make a loving gift to your loved ones: the gift of not having to decide whether or not to continue life support, and the gift of not fighting over who gets to be the spokesperson. Your loved one can live with the decision— no matter what it is— because it was made in advance by you.
Just like you need to buy a new pack of pencils every year, or at least sharpen the pencils you have, you really need to review this document yearly. You may have a change in relationship with the trusted person you selected to act on your behalf. Or maybe your opinions and values about catastrophic care have shifted since you created this Advance Directive. Take a look back at school and make sure your wishes are still being met in your Advance Directive.
Red Pens – The Will
If there is one thing on the back-to-school checklist that students don’t like to think about, it’s the red pens for the teacher. That’s because the gift of red pens assumes the teacher will need to use them on their work.
So many people do not even think about getting a Will because they don’t want to think about their own mortality. But just like a student really needs the teacher with her red pen to correct their mistakes, every single adult needs a Will to make their wishes known.
If you are back-to-school shopping for your kids and you don’t have a Will, I need you to know that when you die, it will be up to the Court to decide who gets custody of your children. The Will is the only document in which you can name a guardian for your minor children.
A Will also allows your estate to pass through the probate process in a more efficient manner than if you died without one. Now, to be clear, a Will does not make probate efficient. Probate, by its nature, is anything but efficient. But probate is significantly easier with a Will than without.
Graphing Calculator – Power of Attorney
The graphing calculator. It can fill even the stoutest of hearts with dread. But there are just some classes that you could not get through without one. A Power of Attorney document helps get you through tough situations with less stress.
A Power of Attorney document is an important one! It allows you to name someone who can make business and financial decisions on your behalf. This document can even allow your agent to make medical decisions for children if needed.
Consider this scenario: you are in a severe car accident. You are in surgery and then out of commission for several days or even weeks. You need to pay some bills, but you aren’t able to do so because you aren’t fully lucid. Your power of attorney can step in and do that for you. Or another scenario: you are advanced in years, and you are just more forgetful. You aren’t keeping up on bills, and someone really needs to take over that for you. If you aren’t deemed to have a sound mind, you can’t name someone to be your power of attorney. You need this in place before you begin to lose cognitive ability. It prevents your loved ones from having to petition the court for a conservator.
Permission Slip – Standby Guardian
The permission slip allows the school to take you off campus for field trips and activities. The Standby Guardian really does the same thing. It allows you to name someone to be a legal guardian for your minor child in the event you are unable to care for them.
Maybe you’re on vacation and leaving the kids with their cool aunt. This Standby Guardian document protects your sister and the kids by giving her a legal document to provide to medical providers, the school or daycare, and after-school programs. This document states that she is your child’s guardian and is allowed to make decisions on their behalf. This document makes everything legal.
This document is also important to have in place in case you are ever unable to care for your kids. Again, imagine the car accident scenario, but your kids are at school. With this document, a trusted friend or family member can legally pick up the kids and assume their care. This is so much more comforting to a child than having the police or family services, strangers, pick them up.
As we begin to prepare for back-to-school with our children, it’s important to take a look at the things we need to do to set them up for long-term success. Call us at (404) 736-6066 or visit our website to schedule a consultation about how we can help you check estate planning off your back-to-school checklist.
