West Newsmagazine 11-7-18

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November 7, 2018
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
I 7
Planning for Young Clients
Law Matters
A friend
recently called
me. He has two
daughters in
their 20’s. They
recently got
jobs, and they
were in the process
of applying
for benefits. They were asked about
whether they had a will, whether they
had a power of attorney, and who
should be called to handle medical
emergencies. That got them thinking,
and they turned to their dad for
advice. That was nice.
It may seem strange that a 20-
something single person needs to
think about a will. At that age, dying
is one the last things people think
about, but it makes sense. With a will,
you get to say where your property
goes when you die. You can cover
that with pay-on-death and transfer
-on-death beneficiary designations,
but those can be of limited value, and
people miss things. So a basic will
makes sense.
In addition to saying where things
should go, you get to pick who is going
to go through your stuff and administer
your estate. Even a 20 year old
(or maybe particularly a 20 year old)
doesn’t want just anyone going
through their stuff, even when they’re
dead.
So even if you think you’ve done all
of your planning, it is possible to have
missed something, and a will is a good
safety net. If you don’t have kids, the
will can be very simple, but if you have
kids, you want to say who is going to
be their guardians, and you probably
want to plan to avoid having the
court administer their money sort of
like in a Dicken’s novel.
In addition to a will, a young
person certainly would want to have
a durable power of attorney. A
durable power of attorney (and the
word durable needs to be in it)
allows someone to handle business
matters when you can’t.
And finally, a young person needs
to have a medical directive of some
sort. These do several things. First,
they are a medical power of attorney
to authorize someone to make
medical decisions whey you can’t.
Second, they need to include
HIPAA authority so that a doctor
can talk to your family. Finally, they
need to include a living will so you
can be allowed to die naturally.
So when my friend called and
asked what his daughters should do, I
told them they needed to do some
planning. It can make a lot of difference
if the unthinkable happens.
For more, please see the rest at
www.law-matters.net.
with estate planning is
always know what to
expect. Fred has gathered
some of the most
interesting examples he
knows into an entertaining
and eduactional book.
at ae t t is available
to order online at www.lawmatters.net
Fred L. Vilbig is an attorney with over 30
years of experience in the areas of wills
and trusts, small businesses, and real
estate. This column is for informational
purposes only. Nothing herein should be
treated as legal advice or as creating an
attorney-client relationship. The choice
of a lawyer is an important decision
and should not be based solely upon
advertisements.
(636) 537-7884 | fvilbig@shandselbert.com | www.law-matters.net
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