Ormond Beach Estate Planning Law Blog

When people in Florida think of estate planning, they typically may consider a will and perhaps a trust. But a thorough estate plan encompasses a wide array of instruments that can provide security and peace of mind in the latter stages of a person's life. The disposal of one's property is only one well-known aspect to estate planning. What sort of medical care you want to receive and who can make health care decisions on your behalf are essential components of a complete estate plan.

Two documents in particular that many people may not have considered are a designation of health care surrogate and a living will. The designation of a health care surrogate appoints a person you trust to have the authority to make decisions regarding your medical care if you are unable to make them yourself. This document goes hand in glove with a living will, which expresses the level of medical care you want to receive. If you do not want to undergo extraordinary life-prolonging measures in the hospital, a living will articulates those wishes and allows the health care surrogate to see that the health care provider follows your instructions.

Some of us in Ormond Beach might have seen the new movie "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo." This adaptation of Swedish novelist Steig Larsson's first installment of the Millennium Trilogy has been hotly anticipated and recently earned its star, Rooney Mara, an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

The plot of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" does have a little to do with inheritance and estates, but the more relevant estate planning story comes from Larsson's own life.

A lot of young people in Ormond Beach probably think that many estate planning concerns do not apply to them. When we are young, we feel invulnerable and think that many things are not going to affect us. The fact is, however, that there are many estate planning considerations that are beneficial no matter what your age.

Take, for example, long-term care planning. No one likes to think about a day when he or she may no longer be able to make his or her own decisions about things like medical care and finances, but it is a sad and unfortunate fact that this day comes for some people.

More and more, wealthy parents in Florida and elsewhere are putting a lid and a lock on the cookie jar. Their feeling is that the notion of handing large inheritances to their children at the age of 21 is no longer a wise decision. Instead, families are deferring the transfer of those assets until the kids reach their 30s and even 40s. What's more, when the inheritances are finally made, they often come provisionally as parents try to guard against profligate spending and loss of the family fortune.

Studies indicate that wealthy parents generally believe that financial maturity is difficult to achieve before the age of 35. There are a number of devises available to help parents ensure that the money they have accumulated will not wash out with the bath water. Trusts are growing in popularity as a means for keeping a hand in things to determine when and under what conditions the assets will be distributed.