Essential Estate Planning Documents
My name is Noelle Minto and I’m here to tell you what every single person in the state of California needs to have as an essential set of estate planning documents, regardless of wealth. First and foremost, powers of attorney need to be executed for every individual over the age of 18. This is because if you are disabled, or in any way incapacitated because of an injury or illness, you are not going to have the benefit of someone being your legal advocate that others need to listen to. That includes the banks and medical professionals who might be trying to assist you. Powers of Attorneys are typically called, in California, a Durable Power of Attorney, which is also known as the Financial Power of Attorney or Advanced Healthcare Directive.
These are essential documents. If you do not have them, and you cannot speak for yourself and need someone’s help in transacting a financial transfer, paying a mortgage, etcetera, they’re going to have to go into court and ask to be appointed as your conservator. If that occurs, you are looking at at least $3,000 to $5,000 and could increase if you need it on an emergency basis, which requires two sets of paperwork. I would also advise against this because typically, no matter whether we try and expedite the matter in court and have it approved on a temporary or interim basis, in an emergency, their timeline is not going to be the same as your timeline. It could take weeks or even months to be appointed on a temporary basis. Estate planning documents, regardless of wealth, should always be obtained right away upon the age of 18, even if you’re just appointing your parent to be your agent.
In addition to having a Durable Power of Attorney, even if you do not have an amount of money that justifies doing a revocable trust, you should at least have a Will. Having a Will allows you to direct who you want to be in charge of your Estate, sometimes referred to as an Administrator, and where you would like your items to go. If you do not do that, then the Probate Code establishes how your assets should be divided. Now, a Will will not keep you out of court because you will have to Probate that Will, which is why as soon as you have enough assets to be concerned with, you need to do a Living Trust.
There are several other documents that can be obtained and they’re based on every individual circumstance but at a very minimum, these Powers of Attorney and a Will or a Trust with a Pour-Over Will should be executed by every individual.
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