Estate Planning Mistakes Seniors (Including You Or Your Parents) Can’t Afford To Make

Once you or your parents reach senior status, you really can’t afford to put it off any longer. Unfortunately, without proper planning, seniors can lose everything, even if they have family to look after them. Having a will isn’t enough.

More and more, the media is highlighting stories of seniors being taken advantage of, and even being targeted by unscrupulous professional guardians.

While planning for your incapacity and death can be scary, it’s even scarier to think of all the horrible things that can happen to your family if don’t have the right planning in place.

Here are a some of the most common mistakes that seniors make:

Mistake #1: Not Creating Advance Medical Directives

In your senior years, health care matters become much more relevant and urgent. At this age, you can no longer afford to put off important decisions related to your medical needs. How do you want your medical care handled if you become incapacitated and can’t communicate your wishes? And at the end of life, how do you want your medical care handled? You can address both of these situations with a Designation of Health Care Surrogate and a Living Will.

With the Designation of Health Care Surrogate, you appoint a health care decision maker that can step in for you when you can’t make your own health care decisions. With the Living Will, you provide guidelines for what medical care you want or don’t want at the end of your life. You can even include other instructions, such as who can visit you.

Mistake #2: Relying Only On A Will

Many people mistakenly believe that a will is the only estate planning tool they need. While wills are definitely one key aspect of estate planning, they come with some serious limitations:

• Wills require your family to go through probate, which is open to the public, can be time consuming and expensive.
• Wills don’t offer you any protection if you become incapacitated and unable to make legal and financial decisions.
• Wills don’t cover jointly owned assets or those with beneficiary designations, such as life insurance policies.
• Wills don’t shield assets from your creditors or those of your heirs.
• Wills don’t provide protections or guidance for when and how your heirs take control of their inheritance.

Attorney Myrna Serrano Setty is a compassionate Florida attorney with extensive experience helping Tampa and Wesley Chapel families complete their estate planning. All too often, estate planning law lacks the human touch and voice to make it accessible to everyday families, which Attorney Myrna Serrano Setty is doing her best to remedy by empowering them through her writing.

Connect with The Law Firm Of Myrna Serrano Setty, P.A. for helpful insights and clear analysis of Florida estate planning laws to ensure your legacy and wishes will be protected.

Call Now to Schedule Your Free 15 Minute Discovery Call (813) 686-7175

Mistake #3: Not Keeping Your Plan Current

Far too often people prepare a will or trust when they’re young, put it into a drawer, and forget about it. But your estate plan is worthless if you don’t regularly update it when your assets, family situation, and/or the laws change.

We recommend you review your plan at least every three years to make sure it’s up to date and immediately amend it following events like divorce, deaths, births, and inheritances. And if you have a trust in place, you need to make sure that you’re using it properly. Many people who have trusts aren’t using them effectively, leaving their property vulnerable to probate or mismanagement.

Mistake #4: Not Pre-Planning Funeral Arrangements

Although most people don’t want to think about their own funerals, pre-planning these services is a key facet of estate planning, especially for seniors. By taking care of your funeral arrangements ahead of time, you not only eliminate the burden and expense for your family, you’re able to make your memorial ceremony more meaningful, as well.

In addition to basic wishes, such as whether you prefer to be buried or cremated, you can choose what kind of memorial service you want—simple, elaborate, or maybe none at all. Are there songs you want played? Prayers or poems recited? Do you have a specific burial plot or a spot where you want your ashes scattered?

Pre-planning these things can help relieve significant stress and sadness for your family, while also ensuring your memory is honored exactly how you want. It’s important that you take care of your estate planning immediately and avoid these common mistakes.

We can walk you step-by-step through the process, ensuring that you have everything in place to protect yourself, your assets, and your family. Call us at (813) 686-7175.