Estate Planning

I’d never given much thought to wills and estate planning until my friend Heidi’s husband died unexpectedly and without a will almost 8 years ago. Even though they were married, the fact that he didn’t have a will meant that a horrible and stressful time was made even worse as Heidi had to deal with all the financial craziness that ensued. Her experiences made me realize that I needed a will, because I definitely didn’t want my parents to have to deal with all that if something happened to me. For a few years I used one that I created online, but about 5 years ago I met with an estate attorney and created a will that was designed just for me. She also brought up that fact that as a single woman, I have no one to take care of finances if I’m temporarily incapacitated, and that it would be up to my parents to make medical decisions for me, if I wasn’t able to do so myself. At her suggestion, I had her draw up a durable power of attorney, so my sister could pay my bills and act on my behalf if I couldn’t. I also now have a health care power of attorney, since I don’t want my parents to be the ones to ever have to make hard medical decisions for me, and a living will that puts all my wishes in writing, so that my sister will have further proof that I meant what I said when we had The Talk a few years ago.

Now that I’m pregnant, I have a whole other issue to think about – what would happen to Chiquitito if something happened to me? Last month I called up my wonderful estate attorney and made an appointment to meet with her this afternoon. In less than an hour we discussed guardians and executors (and discussed the qualities that each would need to possess), and wills and trusts, and how they work together. While it’s possible (and easy) to make a will that creates the trust when the will goes into effect, that does result in more paperwork and hassle for those left behind. The other option is creating a trust now, that’s separate from the will, which makes finances incredibly easy when the trust is needed. So we’re going to create a trust, and put my non-retirement assets in there (if you can call my condo an asset) and then make the trust the benefactor of my retirement accounts and the life insurance policy that my financial guy is working on for me. Of course, creating a trust up front is more work for me, but I think it’s worth it, if it might save my family extra work someday.

I really hope that none of this is ever needed. I fully intend to watch Chiquitito grow up, graduate from college and maybe even have some Chiquititos of his own some day. But life never goes exactly as expected, and I feel better knowing I’ll have a contingency plan in place, just in case.