Let me begin by pointing out that this isn’t my first estate plan. I’ve been an estate planning attorney for some time and have done many many plans.
What this is the first of is a summary of the plan created.
What you will notice right away is that there are no names here, there are no significant details included.
There is a reason for this: I don’t want you to know who the client is.
What I do want you to see is the type of plan created for the type of person involved. Different people in different situations have different needs.
What I think is also interesting about this is that you will begin to see that different people in the same or similar situations actually do very different things.
There is a reason for this: not every one has the same goals.
My goal for you is to help you accomplish the goals that you want, no matter what anyone else wants.
Estate Planning Client #1: Single Police Officer Estate Plan
This estate plan, as the title implies, is something I put together for a police officer.
This client was single, was about 35, had no kids, and didn’t have a lot of debt.
His biggest concern was making sure he was taking care of the important things in his life, and he wasn’t even really sure what those were.
The plan we put together for him was quite simple, because that’s all he needed.
This is what we did for him:
- Will;
- Durable Power of Attorney;
- Medical Power of Attorney;
- Health Care Directive.
That’s it.
Now let me tell you why.
First, the will was important as he had some specific things he wanted to give some specific people, and he learned, by talking to us, that if he had no will at all everything would essentially go to his parents.
Second, the power of attorney was important to ensure he was taken care of if he was injured. This was extremely important to him, as we all know being a police officer is a pretty dangerous job.
Third, the medical power of attorney was also important, for the same reasons as above. He also didn’t realize that his family would not have been able to get any information about his medical status had he not executed this (privacy laws prevent it).
Fourth, and finally, the health care directive. End of life decisions and taking the mystery out of what you would want to do if you were in a vegetative state is something we should all do for our families.
That’s it, a single police office estate plan.
What’s important here is that it is done, that as his needs change so can his plan. But he’s covered in the event of death or disability, and he’s made important decisions to give his family direction.
Christopher is a Bellevue estate planning lawyer with CMS Law Firm LLC. He is a speaker, a blogger, a husband, a father, a golfer, and really good at helping people create the life of their dreams.
