Most people think of estate planning as being limited to the distribution of assets after death, but another critical aspect of estate planning is preparation for incapacity.  An incapacity plan provides many estate planning benefits like privacy, freedom, and control. However, they apply while you’re still living — and no estate plan is truly comprehensive without one.

To all front-line and “essential” workers: Thank you for all your hard work—day in and day out (often evenings, nights, and weekends). You tirelessly give of yourself to care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Whether you are caring for them in a hospital, therapy room, or patient’s home, you are there to protect and help the patient gain a better tomorrow.

Time seems to be the one thing we can’t get enough of. This is especially true if you are one of our nurses or frontline healthcare workers. You work tirelessly caring for others and may not have much free time to work on your estate planning. If you can answer the following questions or at least think them through, you can get a jump start on the estate planning process today.

“Life begins with love, is maintained with love, and ends with love.” Tsoknyi Rinpoche

When we think about estate planning, it's easy to focus on the technicalities—the legal documents, the distributions, the financial logistics. We live in an incredibly complex society where failure to plan or poor planning can cause months or years of headache and heartache, not to mention an avoidable financial burden.

Values, like biases and fears and beliefs, are driving forces in our lives. Values can be individual, cultural, societal or familial. 

When you pass away, your family may need to visit a probate court to claim their inheritance. This can happen if you own property (like a house, car, bank account, investment account, or other asset) in only your name. Although having a will is a good basic form of planning, a will does not avoid probate.

One would assume that celebrities who have accumulated great wealth would take steps to protect their estates. Not so. Some of the world’s richest and most famous people enter the pearly gates with no estate plan, while others have made estate planning mistakes that tied their fortunes and heirs up for years in court.

Creating a comprehensive estate plan ensures that your assets are managed and distributed according to your wishes while providing peace of mind for your loved ones. Below, we outline 13 critical documents that every estate plan should include and explain their significance. At Treetown Law, we organize your essential documents in a leather-bound estate plan portfolio, and we provide digital versions of each document as well.

According to a 2019 survey carried out by Caring.com, 57% of adults in the United States have not prepared any estate planning documents, such as a will or trust, despite the fact that 76% viewed them as necessary. Many respondents said this was due to procrastination, but many others mistakenly believed it was not required because they did not have many assets.

The holidays are a time for reflection, connection, and creating memories with loved ones. They’re also an opportunity to have meaningful conversations about the future beyond financial matters to focus on values, legacies, and how we want to care for our families.