#RichLifeLawyer Show 027: Designate One Person for All Estate Planning Roles?

A common question we get when it comes to naming people to take care of clients’ estate planning needs is whether or not one person can be named to fill all estate planning roles.

Traditionally there are several roles that need to be filled to administer an estate:

Personal Representative (also known as the executor)

Power of Attorney

Medical Power of Attorney

Guardian

Trustee

Just to name a few.

The short answer to this question is yes, one person can fill all estate planning roles. But the better question is, should you have one person fill all of those roles.

That’s what we talk about on todays #RichLifeLawyer Show.

Cheers,

Christopher Small

P.S. Thinking of putting together your estate plan? Here’s a FREE report: 7 Estate Planning Mistakes Everyone Needs to Avoid.

Christopher Small is a Kirkland estate planning attorney who helps people get rich and live forever. He is also the owner of CMS Law Firm LLC.

Estate Planning Roles Transcript

Hey everybody this is Christopher Small and this is episode twenty seven of the Rich Life Lawyer Show. I’m super pumped and excited to be here with you today. It’s Tuesday. Not that it matters but we’re gonna talk about something that a lot of people ask us when they come in and that is, look I’m know I need to name a personal representative. I know I need to name some of my power of attorney. I know I need to name a guardian potentially. I need to name medical power of attorney. I need to make all these decisions. Can I name one person for all these things. You know, there’s one person I really trust that I think can do a good job for everything but I’m not sure if I should name one person for everything. You know do these people sort of check and balance each other.

Is there some way, someone can look over their shoulder. People are concerned about that and nervous about that. The things you have another person that can, that they should be close to. Or to answer that question today, to answer the question is yes. Yes, you can name one person for everything and often people do. It’s the safe thing to do with my attorney, when I got my estate plan and I have named, I have the same person for everything. The one difference may be medical power of attorney and that’s because you A) want someone that’s close and often the person that you put in charge of money may not be the person that you put in charge of your medical decisions. We’re having a conversation about that yesterday with the client. They have a finance person that they really trust with their money. And they have a personal connection with someone that they really trust and that really knows them personally. And they want to the name that person as the medical power attorney.

The correct answer really is whatever makes you most comfortable. Whatever fits your goals. Deal what you trust the most. Those are the people you should name for those positions. That’s how you can make sure that your stuff is taken care of. That’s how you are going to make sure that you are taken care of if anything happens to you. And that’s the best way to make the decision. If it’s one person for everything that’s totally okay. That’s the way it should be and that’s often how it goes. Alright, that’s it. Christopher Small again with CMS Law Firm. If you have questions, you can leave a comment below from Facebook live. You can leave a comment on Youtube if you’re watching. You can leave a comment anywhere. You can e-mail me chris@cmslawfirm.com and I will answer your question right here on the show. The next time. Alright, see you later.