| Estate Planning Pop Quiz August means school is back in session or just around the corner, signaling the return of Friday night lights and school zones. Try your hand at this estate planning pop quiz to see if your knowledge of estate planning makes the grade. Question #1: True or false? You must name the same person to make both your financial and medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated. Answer: False. When choosing who should be your trusted decision makers, you should select individuals based on their strengths. In other words, you should consider what characteristics or traits each decision-making role requires and select the people who have those traits. For example, if one of your children is a doctor and another child is a certified public accountant (CPA), then it makes sense that the doctor would make medical decisions on your behalf and the CPA would make financial decisions on your behalf. You may also need to consider that choosing the right person for the job could mean going with a professional. If none of your children have the organizational skills or focused temperament to handle administering your estate, or if your children do not get along, then perhaps the best option would be to appoint a professional to act as one of your trusted decision makers. This could end up preserving your property and family relationships. Question #2: True or false? If I do not create my own estate plan or if my plan fails to provide for my current situation, my state’s law will decide what happens. Answer: True. Every state has default laws (called intestacy laws) that kick in if a person has not made their own estate planning choices through the proper estate planning channels. These laws are designed with a “one size fits most” situation in mind. For example, if you are married, your spouse will usually have priority with regards to making decisions and receiving your property because most married people would choose their spouse. However, there are innumerable reasons why you may not want your spouse to make certain decisions or receive certain assets. For this reason, it is essential that you create your own estate plan and make your own decisions. If you have not created or finished your estate plan, now is the time to stop procrastinating and make an appointment with us to complete it. If you have an estate plan, consider reviewing it in case your existing estate plan does not accurately reflect your current situation. For example, perhaps one or more of the people you chose as your trusted decision makers or beneficiaries are no longer living or able to serve, or there may be other people (e.g., a new child or a new spouse) who you want in those roles instead. When you experience a significant life event such as a marriage, divorce, retirement, change of occupation, or birth or death of a loved one, a change to your estate plan may be necessary. No matter your score on this estate planning pop quiz, you can be an A+ student by ensuring that you have a tailored estate plan in place with carefully chosen trusted decision makers. We can help you create or update your estate plan to ensure that it will work as you intend when the time comes. |
| Attorney Amy Pittman and her family, along with a few of her sisters, celebrated the 4th of July on Lake Oconee, Georgia. Attorney Audra Platt and her family enjoyed the cooler weather in Wisconsin on the 4th of July. |
| My Neighbor Said… As Estate Planning Attorneys we hear interesting comments or suggestions that are made to clients from well meaning neighbors or friends about what our clients should do concerning their Estate Plan. One suggestion that we hear, is giving your children all your assets while you are alive. Typically, we do not recommend this because 1) you never know where your relationship will go with that child, 2) it could have serious negative tax implications, & 3) you might need the assets since people are living longer. You might assume those assets will be there if you need them because your child would never do something to hurt you, however those assets could be taken if your child is sued, divorced or goes through a bankruptcy. We do not want our clients to be at the mercy of their adult child’s decisions. If you are a client of PLO, please contact us if you are receiving advice or suggestions concerning your Estate Plan before acting on the advice. Both Amy and Audra are responsive to emails from clients. amy@thepittmanlawoffice.com and audra@thepittmanlawoffice.com |
| Probate Corner – What is probate? “Probate” is a word that we frequently use but do not often define. By definition, probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person. Every county in Florida has a probate court to handle this legal process, if needed. A probate court only has to be involved if there are assets in the name of the deceased person alone without a beneficiary. The reason why people want to avoid or minimize probate is so that their loved ones do not have the additional cost and time delay of a probate court proceeding. |
| Upcoming Workshops Funding Revocable Trust Workshops This workshop that Attorney Amy Pittman will be holding is only for current clients of Pittman Law Office that have Revocable Trusts. Date & Time: Thursday August 24, 2023 at 8:30 am (30 minutes) Location: VIA ZOOM RSVP: 352-399-6944 Basic Estate Planning Workshop This workshop that Attorney Audra M. Platt will be holding is only for potential clients of Pittman Law Office that want to learn more about Estate Planning and our firm. Date & Time: Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 8:30 am Location: Pittman Law Office, 3854 E. County Road 466, Oxford, Florida 34484 RSVP: 352-399-6944 |
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