20 Minute Emergency Estate Planning for Busy Real Estate Investors

 

If there is one Estate Document you give your fullest attention to, it should be your Living Will.  Consider the possibilities.  You (or one you love) are hospitalized, helpless, and unable to speak for yourself.  Doctors, nurses and your family members are making critical decisions on your behalf.  Should you be kept on a respirator?  Should a feeding tube be inserted?  You could even be drifting in and out of consciousness during this process – aware of what is going on but completely unable to do anything about it. 

 

Your might know now what you do and do not want done, but if you haven’t put it in writing, all bets are off.

 

Your Living Will is the document that directs what your end-of-life wishes are:  Do you want to stay on life-support?  Do you want a breathing tube used?  Should you be given food or water?

 

“Food and water,” you may ask:

“What’s that got to do with it?”

   YOU MAY BE JUST LIKE MANY OF OUR CLIENTS:

Do you remember the famous

 Terri Schiavo case?

 

The problem here was that Mrs. Schiavo had never prepared a Living Will.   Her husband claimed to have had conversations with her that included her wishes not to be kept on life-support.  But without the correct documentation, such evidence was not considered adequate.

Myths about the Living Will –

 

Myth One:  This is the document that states how you want your property to go upon your passing.

Myth 2 – This is the document that nominates your personal       representative.

 

Neither one of these is true. 

  Way too many of the documents I review are slapped together with no customization.  This can cause families to fight and eventually fall apart.   Also, if your current Living Will is too old, it may be out of date.  This could mean some health care institutions might not even honor it!

 

 

BONUS SECRET:

Estate Planning is ALL about OPTIONS.  It’s like the trail you used to take going home from school when you were a child.  If you went one way, the bully and his gang might have been there.  If you went another way, you didn’t have to face the bully, but it took you 28 more minutes.  When choosing your source for legal advice, pick the attorney who will give you customized attention.  I’m shocked that less than 14% of true Estate Planning attorneys have customizable software for you the client!

 

 

“Man cannot live without food and water, so

why doesn’t your Living Will state this?”

Never Forget this…

What’s this about food and water . . .  the basic elements of life?  In my experience, more than 98% of Wills and Trusts I review DO NOT have this basic item.  Go look at your Medical Health Care Directive and Living Will. Find out if you will have food and water as part of your end-of-life care.

 

Or consider this:  Mom is in a second marriage with “Casanova”?  Who makes the decisions?   You want what’s best for Mom, but the new beau may want something else.

 

Family members would obviously say, “We thought Mom wanted to make sure she had food and water to sustain her?  But her . . .

 

                LARGE PROBATE COSTS  ARE THE END RESULT

 

Keep these points in mind:

Make sure you’re the one calling the shots in the hospital room.  No one needs this kind of problem!

 

·         A Living Will should say if you want to be kept alive by a feeding tube or not. But Living Wills signed before July, 1991 don’t talk about being in a coma or being fed by tubes.

·         There is an alarming trend to define food and water as "medical treatments" which can be considered optional for a given patient rather than ordinary care to which all are entitled.

·         Today patients are in more danger of under-treatment  than overtreatment, especially dependent persons in institutionalized situations. There are major financial incentives for health care providers to undertreat patients.

·         A Poorly drafted Living Will may weigh the law in favor of death rather than life. Yours may not give you the power to choose life saving treatment or even food and water.

·         Today’s hospital patients, (even if they are non-terminal) are in increasing danger of being deprived of  beneficial medical treatment and even food and water.

 

 The information was provided by creator and founder

of ’20 Minute Emergency Estate Planning Blueprint’ tm

Joseph J. Dadich, Esq. Expert Author/Attorney/CPA

Creator of ‘Emergency Estate Planning Documents’™  Get your FREE CD ‘3 Mistakes Beneficiary’s Make when loved ones die’ and $2,188 in Bonuses at www.1estateplanningmichigan.com or www.15criticalpoints.com

Email us at contact@1estateplanningmichigan.com for your free ‘15 critical point manual.