Tag Archives: health care proxies

Estate Planning Essentials: Your Age Doesn’t Matter

Estate Planning, Health Care Proxy/HIPPA, trusts, Uncategorized, , ,

 

The current pace of our lives makes finding time to develop an Estate Plan more and more difficult. Please find below some moves you can make which are not complicated, or expensive, but which can improve your position, and let you sleep at night.

  1. Create or Update Your Will or Revocable Trust

    These documents are the cornerstone of your Estate Plan. They insure that your assets will be distributed exactly as you would like. Failure to keep these documents current may result in disinheritance or financial hardship for loved ones who depend on you.


  2. Review Beneficiary Designations. When you established life insurance or retirement plans, you were asked to name beneficiaries of these accounts who will receive the assets upon your death. It is important to review these designations regularly to ensure that your assets pass to the appropriate loved ones.
  3. Create or Update Your Health Care Proxy and Living Will You need a health care proxy to appoint your spouse, a trusted friend or family member to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to make those decisions yourself. Your health care agent will work with your doctors and other health care providers to make sure you get the medical care which is best for you. A living will is a type of advance directive that gives you the opportunity to formalize your wishes as to prolonged health care in the event that your condition is terminal. NOTE: Living Wills give direction but are not legally binding
  4. Create a Durable Power of Attorney. Regardless of the size of your estate or your family circumstances, you should have a durable power of attorney. You may appoint your spouse, a trusted family member or friend to handle all of your financial affairs on your behalf in the event you are not able to do so, yourself.
  5. Establish Guardianships for Minor Children. Have you considered who would take care of your minor children in the event of the untimely passing of you and your spouse? If you do not finalize your wishes in your Will, a court will decide who will care for your children. Do not leave your children’s well-being in the hands of a court. Appoint a Guardian for you minor children in your Will.
  6. Encourage Your Adult Children to Create an Estate Plan. Whether your son or daughter is going off to college or beginning a career, encourage your child to set up an Estate Plan. If your adult child requires medical attention, you have no legal right to their medical records, nor can you participate in health care decision, without a duly executed health care proxy.
  7. Encourage Your Aging Parents to Create, or Update, Their Estate Plans. It becomes increasingly more difficult to discuss finances and health care decisions with your parents as they age. Encourage your parents to put an Estate Plans in place, or review their existing Estate Plans.

KIDS AT COLLEGE–Some College “Prep” of Your Own

Health Care Proxy/HIPPA, , , ,

Among the learning experiences for parents with children away at college is the fact that having reached the age of 18, your child is no longer your ward, and you are no longer your child’s legal guardian. That doesn’t mean that cannot pick up the tab for tuition, room and board, but you are not, as of right, entitled to see your child’s grades, and you are not, as of right, entitled to be informed of health issues confronting your child or to make medical decisions for your child.

The grade issue can be circumvented by interaction with your child. The health considerations are a little bit more complicated and require some forethought. The two documents that will assist you in being in position to help your child in medical emergencies, or even routine medical decisions, are a Health Care Proxy (which gives you the right to make “informed consent” decisions for your child) and the FICCA form (which gives you access to your child’s medical records) and Durable Powers of Attorney. These documents are part of our standard Estate Planning package when we assist our clients with Estate Plans. We are now suggesting that the appropriate execution of these forms become part of your checklist for sending your child away to college in August.

Wherever you are located, we, at Topkins & Bevans, can either prepare these forms for you, and supervise their proper execution or locate someone in your state to do same, all for a minimal fee. With the reticence that many medical and educational institutions have developed to release information and records, the Health Care Proxy, HIPPA Form and Durable Powers of Attorney have become “don’t leave home without it” items. Don’t wait until you have a frantic child on the phone whom you really cannot help at all without the expense and frustration of climbing into a plane or your car to be there, in person!!!

Kids at College–Some timely advice for Parents

Health Care Proxy/HIPPA, , ,

Among the learning experiences for parents with children away at college is the fact that having reached the age of 18, your child is no longer your ward, and you are no longer your child’s legal guardian.  That doesn’t mean that cannot pick up the tab for tuition, room and board, but you are not, as of right, entitled to see your child’s grades, and you are not, as of right, entitled to be informed of health issues confronting your child or to make medical decisions for your child.

The grade issue can be circumvented by interaction with your child. The health considerations are a little bit more complicated and require some forethought.  The two documents that will assist you in being in position to help your child in medical emergencies, or even routine medical decisions, are a Health Care Proxy (which gives you the right to make “informed consent” decisions for your child) and the FICCA form (which gives you access to your child’s medical records).  These documents are part of our standard Estate Planning package when we assist our clients with Estate Plans. We are now suggesting that the appropriate execution of these forms, and in certain instances, a durable Power of Attorney, become part of your checklist for sending your child away to college either in January or August.

We, at Topkins & Bevans, can prepare these forms for you, and explain their proper execution, for a minimal fee. We can do this work from Massachusetts, and you can execute them in your state as long as you acknowledge that the documents have been drafted in accordance with Massachusetts law. Please contact me to go over what is required, and how we can assist parents in this area. With the reticence that many medical institutions have developed to release medical information and records, the Health Care Proxy and HIPPA Form have become “don’t leave home without it” items.