Estate planning for young people: What three big steps should you consider?

While planning for end-of-life may seem like a task to be done in older or perhaps middle age, the reality is that everybody, young or old, should have legal documents in case of an unfortunate event or accident. If someone dies without a will, their assets are taken control of by the state, meaning your possessions may not go to the people you intended, such as unmarried partners, friends, or charities.

For big, important decisions, it is best to have documents clearly stating what you want in the event of a tragedy or accident. Here are three documents you may want to consider having on hand: 

Durable Power of Attorney

This document gives someone the ability to manage your finances or make legal decisions on your behalf. This is helpful because you may explicitly tell them what you value and would want in the event of an accident, or you may have enough trust in them to do what is best. Either way, giving someone power of attorney ensures that your finances and legal decisions are in the hands of someone you trust.

You can fill out this document with the appropriate information (i.e. the name of who you’re giving power of attorney to, your name, your address, etc), and then sign the form, along with who you’ve chosen, in front of a notary. 

Advance Directive

Advance Directives, which include living wills and durable power of attorney for healthcare or durable medical power of attorney, is a form giving someone the power to make medical decisions for you in case you are incapacitated. This may include if you are in a coma, life support, or are otherwise unresponsive. Click here to learn more about Advance Directives and their components.

Advance Directives are all about putting your life in the hands of someone you trust if the time comes, which can give you peace of mind for the future. Additionally, the Advance Directive allows you to explicitly state what treatments you would or would not want in certain situations, so in some cases you are the one making the decision even if you become incapacitated. 

Wills and Trusts

Even if you seem too young to have them, wills and trusts are invaluable documents. As mentioned before, without a will, the state government makes decisions after your death. Wills are documents where you lay out how you want your assets divided up after death. Trusts are a bit more complicated, but you can get more detailed information here. 

Decisions about end-of-life are not easy to make, and will hopefully not be necessary in the near future, but are nevertheless good to have in case of an emergency. If you feel you need legal guidance on any of these issues, contact a will and trust lawyer or LegalZoom, an inexpensive website where you can get personalized legal consultation.

If you feel you need more information on general end-of-life tasks, including deciding on the best way to approach estate planning, you can call Peacefully’s concierge service at +1 (657) 999-0791.