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Should I Establish Guardianship for My Elderly Loved One?
A family may need to address multiple issues related to the needs of a person as they get older. Seniors can sometimes struggle to handle concerns related to their health, their finances, and their day-to-day needs. In these situations, other family members will often be able to step in, offer assistance, or even provide a home and round-the-clock care to address medical and personal concerns. When doing so, a person may be unsure about the best steps to take to ensure that they will have the right to make decisions on behalf of their loved one. By consulting with an attorney who can provide guidance in matters related to estate planning and elder law, a family can determine whether establishing guardianship may be the right choice in their situation.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Guardianship
Texas law allows a person to be named as someone’s legal guardian, which will give them the right to make certain decisions, as well as the responsibility to act in the best interests of the ward and provide for their ongoing needs. To establish guardianship, a person will need to file a petition in court, and their request will typically only be granted if there is evidence that the proposed ward is incapacitated, meaning that they are unable to fully provide for their own personal, medical, or financial needs. An examination by a doctor may be required to determine the person’s mental state and physical abilities, and a court hearing will be held where a judge will decide whether guardianship is necessary.
Can Mediation Be Used to Resolve Business Contract Disputes?
While business contracts can be crucial for protecting the interests of a company and other parties, there are a variety of situations where business owners may need to determine how to address a breach of contract. For example, a service provider may not have fully provided the services described in a contract within the correct time frame, or a former employee may have violated the terms of a non-compete agreement. In these cases, a business may seek to enforce the terms of a contract or pursue compensation for financial losses that occurred because of a breach of contract. While these issues may be addressed through litigation in court, the parties involved may benefit by using other methods to negotiate a settlement. Mediation can be a beneficial way of resolving contract disputes, and it will often allow the parties to reach agreements and settle disputes much more quickly and efficiently.
What Are the Benefits of a Revocable Living Trust?
During the estate planning process, a person or family may use multiple tools to determine how different types of assets will be handled both during a person’s life and after their death. Trusts are some of the most powerful and flexible tools that are available, and they can be used to preserve and protect assets and ensure that they are used correctly to provide for the needs of a person and their loved ones. Revocable living trusts are some of the most commonly-used types of trusts, and they can provide a family with multiple benefits.
Advantages of Revocable Living Trusts
When a person creates a trust, they will transfer certain assets to the trust and provide instructions for how these assets should be distributed to different beneficiaries. The trust itself will own the assets, and this can provide some protection, since the assets will no longer be part of the person’s estate. A trust involves three parties: the person who created the trust (known as the grantor or settlor), the person who will manage the assets in the trust (known as the trustee), and one or more beneficiaries who will receive distributions of assets in the trust.
Do I Need a Living Will in My Texas Estate Plan?
During the estate planning process, you will make a variety of decisions about how matters will be handled after your death. In addition to addressing ownership of your property or other related issues, it is also important to consider how you will be able to meet your needs throughout the rest of your life. Along with decisions related to your finances, you will also want to make sure your medical and personal care will be provided for. It can be especially important to address situations where you may become terminally ill, and if you cannot make your wishes known, you will want to ensure that you receive the proper care and end-of-life medical treatment. You can address these situations by creating a living will, which is one of the most important ancillary documents that may be included in your estate plan.
Requirements for Living Wills in Texas
A living will covers situations where you will be unable to make decisions about your medical care because of an illness or injury. The Texas Health and Safety Code details a standard form that may be used for a “Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates,” although you may also create a document that is customized to your unique needs. Your living will must be signed in the presence of two witnesses before it will become valid, and its terms will only go into effect if you become incapacitated in the future and cannot make your wishes known.
Facts about power of attorney in Texas
There are many things that you have to consider when estate planning. One of them is the fact that you can become incapacitated at any time, so you need to have a plan in place for who will make decisions on your behalf. This is where the power of attorney comes in. Read on to learn more about this important estate planning tool.
What is a power of attorney?
A power of attorney is a legal document in estate planning that allows you to appoint someone else to make decisions on your behalf. Power of attorney is often used for financial matters, medical decisions or both. It may be limited to specific tasks, such as making decisions about your health care or handling your finances.
What are the benefits of a power of attorney?
The agent you appoint will be able to manage your assets, pay bills and file taxes as necessary. It can also help reduce stress on family members who may not live nearby or who might get overwhelmed with other responsibilities at the time that you need them most.
Everything you need to know about probate
In Texas, probate is a necessary estate administration process that ensures that estate plans get executed properly. Sometimes, it is necessary when somebody dies with assets and there are issues or doubts surrounding the executor, the will or the estate itself. If you’ve been asking yourself certain questions about probate, keep reading.
What is probate?
Probate is the legal process of estate administration that occurs when there are disputes among heirs or creditors regarding the estate, its executor and the distribution process. The purpose of the probate process is to check the validity of a will and to ensure that estate plans are properly executed by the right person.
How does probate work?
The executor of an estate files all required documents with the local courthouse for review by the estate judge. If approved, an estate inventory is then created and creditors get notified. All assets of the estate are then identified along with any debts before the heirs or beneficiaries receive anything. The estate is then divided among the heirs in accordance with the estate plan.
What to do about digital assets in your estate plan
If you live in Texas and you are creating an estate plan, you should also give some thought to your digital assets. You do not need to own cryptocurrency or a valuable domain in order to have digital assets that need to be addressed. Your digital life includes your social media accounts, your digital photos, and your emails as well as any online accounts and other things you own that are digitized. You may also have hybrid assets, such as an account with a brick-and-mortar bank that you can access online.
What to do
The first step should be making a list of all your assets along with any important information about them, such as passwords and account numbers. As is the case with any other type of property, you then need to decide which of your beneficiaries will get your digital assets. Like most other states, Texas has a version of the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which allows the people you designate to access your accounts.
Include provisions for incapacitation in your estate plan
For many high-worth individuals in Texas, determining how to leave your wealth to your beneficiaries can be complicated. One aspect that people tend to overlook is planning for incapacitation should you become ill and unable to make decisions for yourself. Planning for incapacitation is just as important as the other aspects of managing your estate.
Steps in Planning for Incapacitation
You may think that a will or a trust are the only documents you need for estate planning purposes. However, those documents won’t help you in the present if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. You’ll want to ensure that care for dependents and the orderly management of your wealth occurs if you are incapacitated for any reason and unable to make decisions. You should also stipulate end-of-life wishes if you end up in a vegetative state.
The importance of estate planning for parents of young children
If you have young children and prefer not to think about planning for their well-being after your death, you are not alone. Many parents in Texas avoid this topic, but it is important to create an estate plan to ensure that your children get the very best care if something happens to you.
Your children
For a parent, one of the most important functions of a will is to name a guardian for the children. This is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to make sure your children will be in the care of someone you have chosen. If you do not choose a guardian, the court process to appoint one can be long and stressful.
You may also want to consider both a life insurance policy and a trust so that your children are cared for. A trust may not be the right choice for every family, but it can mean that your children receive assets at the time and in the way that you want.
Have you written down your preferences about medical care?
If you experience a significant medical event, your family members may be the ones who have to make decisions about your medical care. After a car crash, a stroke or even a heart attack, you may not be able to make your own decisions about the care that you need.
Your spouse or even your children may have to make those decisions on your behalf because you are unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. Although you may have spoken about your wishes in the past, it’s likely that your family members will struggle to recall every term you set during a stressful time.
Have you committed your medical preferences to writing yet?
There are many decisions to make about modern medical care
Advances in modern medicine mean that there are more treatment and therapy options than ever before. Some medical treatments might violate certain people’s religious beliefs. Other individuals past a certain age or with lifelong medical conditions may want less intensive intervention if they have a sudden medical event.
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