Estate Planning Steps You Can Take Without a Lawyer

Although you may need legal assistance with certain aspects of your estate plan, you can also take various estate planning steps without help from a lawyer. Clear examples include beneficiary designations and a designation of health care surrogate. That said, you may want to avoid too many “DIY” steps if you’re serious about creating an effective estate plan in St. Petersburg.

Beneficiary Designations Represent an Easy Way to Get Started With Estate Planning

 One of the easiest ways to get started with the estate planning process is to create beneficiary designations. You can create beneficiary designations without help from a lawyer, and the process is as easy as contacting your bank or financial institution. Every reputable institution allows account holders to designate specific people to inherit the full value of their accounts.

For example, you might have a savings account with roughly $100,000. If your payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary designation is active when you pass away, your beneficiary will inherit this sum seamlessly. Probate is not necessary, and your loved one (perhaps an adult child or spouse) will receive the money very quickly.

All you really need to do is fill out whatever form your institution provides. You can set up beneficiary designations with not only bank accounts, but also investment portfolios and stocks. With all that said, it is a smart idea to speak with a lawyer about how your beneficiary designation aligns with the rest of your estate plan. If you are not careful, your beneficiary designations could conflict with your Will or trust.

You Do Not Need a Lawyer to Create a Designation of Health Care Surrogate

 Another very easy estate planning form to fill out in Florida is a designation of health care surrogate, and you do not need a lawyer’s assistance with this process. This form represents a relatively simple but vital aspect of your estate plan, as it hands over legal decision-making authority to a designated “surrogate” for medical decisions.

If you ever become incapacitated, your surrogate will make medical decisions on your behalf. Without this form, doctors will simply do what they believe is best. You may have strong opinions about things like organ donation, blood transfusions, risky surgeries, and much more. You may also have strong preferences about what happens if you ever fall into a vegetative state.

Can a St. Petersburg Estate Planning Attorney Help Me?

 You can get started today with steps like beneficiary designations and your designation of health care surrogate. However, you should also take the time to draft an effective Will, and it makes sense to work with a St. Petersburg estate planning attorney when completing this step. Once finished, you can move on to other potential steps, such as the creation of a trust. Contact Drude Tomori Law today at 727-300-8900 to learn more. We serve clients in St. Petersburg, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, and Sarasota.

Sources: 

loridabar.org/public/consumer/pamphlet026/

ufhealth.org/advance-directives/kinds-of-advance-directives/health-care-surrogate