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Tag: Estate Planning Attorney Greenbelt

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Tell Someone about Your Advanced Medical Directives

MP900448483If you have a health care power of attorney and living will, you should make sure that someone you trust knows where to find them.

It is very easy to get advanced medical directives today. You can often get living wills and health care powers of attorney as part of the process of admission to a hospital. If you tell a doctor about your wishes, it is often good enough for the doctor to make a note of them in his or her notes. However, getting those documents at a hospital or by telling a doctor can be a problem.

The system of medical records used in the U.S. does not make it easy for doctors to know that you have expressed your wishes ahead of time, especially when they actually need the information as The New York Times reports in "You've Detailed Your Last Wishes, but Doctors May Not See Them."

There is a potential way to mitigate the possibility that this problem will happen to you. Get your living will and your health care power of attorney ahead of time, by going to an estate planning attorney. These documents are routinely created as part of the estate planning process.

Once you have created the documents, you should store them in a secure place.  However, do not stop there. Make sure that someone you trust knows where to find the documents. That person can then get them when needed, to the doctors providing care for you.

This is not a perfect plan that will work all of the time, but it is better than relying on the current system of medical records.

Reference: New York Times (March 27, 2018) "You've Detailed Your Last Wishes, but Doctors May Not See Them."

 

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Digital Asset Availability Limitations

MP900442500Gaining access to the digital accounts of deceased loved ones is slowly becoming easier. That means that people need to think about what type of access they want to grant as part of their estate planning.

Even just a few years ago, it was almost impossible to gain access to the digital accounts of the deceased. Even when ordered to allow access by judges, tech companies would point to their terms of service and deny that access. This created many problems for families and estate administrators who needed access to those accounts for a variety of reasons.  In Maryland, the legislature passed a law which became effective on October 1, 2016.  The law allows Maryland residents to name a fiduciary, during incapacity and upon death, to access the resident's online accounts. DC has not yet enacted such legislation.  For details on how to manage your digital assets, see an estate attorney.

In response to this problem, state legislators have slowly been passing new laws to gain access to digital accounts.  As a result, some tech companies are beginning to change their policies to account for this. However, when it comes to your estate planning, do you want someone to have access to your digital accounts after you pass away? If yes, for how long should they have that access?

This subject was recently considered by the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog in "Digital Assets Estate Planning — Alternatives to Perpetual Access."

The problem? The longer a digital account remains open without someone monitoring it, the more likely it is to be hacked by someone who can use the information in it for criminal, fraudulent or other nefarious purposes. Cases of this happening are becoming much more frequent. It sometimes means that estate administrators must deal with all of the problems associated with identity theft in addition to their more traditional duties.

Given these potential abuses, you might want to direct in your estate planning that your accounts be closed completely, after the period of time necessary to wrap up your affairs.

Reference: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (April 6, 2018) "Digital Assets Estate Planning — Alternatives to Perpetual Access."

 

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Do You Want Your Child to Be Your Executor?

MP900448494[1]Without thinking about it too much, many people designate one of their children to be the executor of their estate. They should think about it carefully, before doing so.

The executor of your estate should be someone you trust to handle your estate just as you want it handled. You want to be certain that the executor will faithfully follow the instructions laid out in your will, including distributing your assets according to your wishes.

Many people trust one of their own children above all other potential candidates for this responsibility. They name that child as their executor, having put little thought into the consequences of doing so. It is not always a good idea, as Texas Lawyer discusses in "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Executors."

Being an executor is not an easy job. If people do not know what they are doing, it is very easy for them to make mistakes. They can often be held personally liable for those mistakes.

An executor does more than just distribute the assets of the estate. He or she must be able to communicate with the court and with any heirs about the estate. If, for example, the executor and a sibling do not get along, there can be problems. In some cases, executors will need to invest assets for a period of time, before they can be distributed. The executors need to do that investing wisely.

Before naming one of your children to be the executor of your estate, think through whether it is a role you really want that child to have. It might be better, in some cases, to name a professional.

Reference: Texas Lawyer (March 6, 2018) "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Executors."