Three things for Women to consider when it comes to End of Life Planning

Three things for Women to consider when it comes to End of Life Planning

By Maurice Stouse

While it can be difficult to talk about, end of life planning is nonetheless often one of necessity. Today we will cover things women should consider discussing now —to worry less later in life.

First would be the management of your affairs should you become incapacitated. Who can you or should you turn to in such times? What would you need? Often a power of attorney would provide for this. An attorney can assist you on customizing a document to best suit your needs, desires and concerns. This can also include your wishes if your incapacity is of a medical nature. Powers of attorney typically end when a person dies so that is important to keep in mind.

Important thing to consider: Should you not have the opportunity to have a power of attorney in place, it might be left up to the legal system/ the courts as to how your affairs are to be handled.  This is another reason to do planning now.

So what about the issue of the power of attorney ending when your life ends? The issue of trusts then comes in to consideration. There are a variety of ways that trusts can be established and those also come in the form of revocable and irrevocable trusts.  Taking the time to do the planning now can help you determine what might work best for your situation and needs. Many see a trust as an instrument to execute your wishes beyond your life.

Lastly, what about wills? Many Americans simply don’t have one (one estimate is almost 50%). A will can be a relatively simple thing to establish and can always be changed. Wills not only can call for the distribution of your  assets upon your death, but establish someone to oversee the process. Wills  do  require some legal procedure, the term probate is typically used here, before  those can be executed upon. And, over the years of someone’s life, things can change significantly. Divorces and second marriages are a couple of examples.

To sum it up, this is not a comprehensive list, it is rather to begin the conversations and provide food for thought. Please work with a professional advisor who has experience with these matters.

Next month, we will open the topic of the three main classes of financial assets: Cash (short term), bonds (fixed income, conservative)  and equities (growth, more aggressive).

Maurice Stouse is a Financial Advisor with Raymond James & Associates, Inc. 34851 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Suite 200, Destin, FL 32541. Raymond James & Associates, member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. Phone 850.650.0990.

This information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any opinions are those of Maurice Stouse and not necessarily of Raymond James.