When the word estate planning comes up, loads of people automatically assume that it has something to do with death planning. People think about what is going to happen when they pass away. Now, while planning the future of your loved ones after your death is a component of estate planning, ideally, your estate plan should encompass essential things during your lifetime as well.
There are several things that may occur – or – probably are going to occur, so you will want to get in touch with an estate planning attorney, such as the estate planning attorney charlottesville va, and ensure that you are addressing those issues that can occur during your lifetime.
So, if you were to put your entire life out on a time spectrum, you would be looking at it, saying that there are things that occur while you are living. There might be a transition period when you might not be able to make decisions for yourself before you pass and also after you pass.
Estate Planning – Get an Advocate
Most people immediately go towards the idea of having a will or testament ready that immediately discusses transfer upon death. However, if you look at it, the will is an immediate transfer of your things after your death, which means that it doesn’t really do anything for you while you are alive, which is where estate planning comes in.
If you are a business owner, you will also want to get in touch with a patent lawyer, such as the patent lawyer los angeles ca, and manage things related to the registration or transfer of your intellectual property. You see – there are several things that you need to take care of while you are alive to protect your assets and to protect the rights of your loved ones.
While we are alive, there are countless things that could happen – the pandemic that hit the globe a few years ago is just an example of this. During the pandemic, there were people who needed medical attention as they were incapacitated due to the medical attention and had many other needs.
For instance, if you went to the hospital, and the hospital had a do-not-resuscitate order, and you did not have somebody who was able to act on your behalf through a valid power of attorney or a medical power of attorney or a medical directive – depending on the state and region.
Estate Planning – Protect Your Rights
With estate planning, you are not only protecting your loved ones, but you are also doing yourself a great favor by empowering someone to act on your behalf when you are unable to. Also, you could be at the mercy of whatever the procedures would be for a particular hospital.
So, we all need advocates – not only in the form of transferring our property and assets and protecting the rights of our loved ones, but we also need advocates while we are alive. We need advocates who know us, understand our needs, and act in our best interests.
It comes down to the point of needing someone who is personally involved with you to stand with you and advocate for you, and with estate planning, you empower them to do it.
