Curated by: Rubric Advisors
Estate & Legacy
Estate Decisions
Estate planning involves three critical decisions: determining beneficiaries and gift timing, appointing trusted fiduciaries to manage affairs, and establishing powers of attorney for personal and financial matters.
Estate Decisions
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Estate Planning Foundation
- Estate planning requires answering three fundamental questions about your future
- Decisions involve beneficiaries, decision-makers, and personal care arrangements
- Planning ensures your wishes are carried out when you cannot
- Proper setup protects assets and provides clear instructions for others
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Estate Planning Foundation
- Estate planning requires answering three fundamental questions about your future
- Decisions involve beneficiaries, decision-makers, and personal care arrangements
- Planning ensures your wishes are carried out when you cannot
- Proper setup protects assets and provides clear instructions for others
Choosing Your Beneficiaries
- Decide who will receive your assets: children, family, charities, others
- No real limits exist on who you can appoint as beneficiaries
- Create dispositive provisions to add restrictions on gift distributions
- Specify when and how beneficiaries will access their inherited assets
Appointing Key Fiduciaries
- Trustee manages trust assets and carries out distribution instructions
- Executor handles assets outside the trust but within your estate
- Guardian takes care of minor children when you cannot
- Most people choose the same person as both trustee and executor
Powers of Attorney
- Healthcare POA designates someone to make medical decisions for you
- Living will provides specific instructions for your healthcare guardian
- Durable financial POA manages your money when you cannot
- Financial POA can include restrictions on how finances are handled
Key Takeaways
- Identify beneficiaries and create appropriate dispositive provisions for gift restrictions
- Appoint trusted fiduciaries including trustee, executor, and guardian for minors
- Establish both healthcare and durable financial powers of attorney
- Work with an attorney to create proper documentation for implementation
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