What to Bring to Your Estate Planning Appointment
Estate planning can sound complicated, but for many people, getting started is much simpler than they expect.
At Hometown Senior Solutions, we help seniors and families complete attorney-created estate planning documents using straightforward templates designed for people with relatively simple situations.
You do not need to understand legal terminology before your appointment, and you do not need to arrive with every detail perfectly organized. The legal language is already built into the documents. Our role is to sit down with you, walk through the information the forms ask for, and help you complete the appropriate sections.
Here are a few things that are helpful to have with you.
Basic Personal Information
Start with the basics, including:
Your full legal name
Your current address
Your spouse's full legal name, if applicable
The names of your children
Any other important family information that may be relevant to your documents
Having correct names and contact information available helps make the appointment move much more smoothly.
Think About Who You Trust to Help Make Decisions
Certain documents, such as powers of attorney, allow you to name people you trust to act on your behalf if needed.
Before your appointment, think about who you would want in those roles.
For the power of attorney documents we use, you may name a primary person as well as up to three additional people.
For each person, it is helpful to bring:
Full name
Address
Phone number
You do not necessarily need to have all four people chosen, but thinking about your options beforehand can make the conversation easier.
Consider Your Wishes
Some of the documents will ask you to think about your personal wishes and preferences.
That may include things such as:
Who you would like to receive certain belongings
Your wishes for your estate
Personal instructions you would like your family to know
Information you may want included in a memorandum
Your wishes regarding future medical or end-of-life decisions
You do not have to arrive with every answer written down. It can simply help to spend a little time thinking about these questions before your appointment.
Bring Any Existing Estate Planning Documents
If you already have a will, medical power of attorney, financial power of attorney, advance directive, or other estate planning paperwork, bring it with you.
Even if the documents are old, they may help you identify what you already have in place and what you may want to update.
You Do Not Need to Know the Legal Language
One of the reasons people put off estate planning is because the paperwork can feel intimidating.
Our documents were created by a local attorney, so the legal language is already included in the templates.
You are not expected to draft legal provisions yourself.
Instead, we help you work through the information the documents require, such as your name, address, spouse and children, the people you want to designate, and your personal wishes.
Our goal is to make the process easier to understand and less overwhelming.
Who Are These Documents Best For?
The estate planning documents available through Hometown Senior Solutions are designed primarily for people with relatively straightforward estate planning needs.
They may be a good fit for someone who:
Has a relatively simple estate
Wants to put basic wishes in writing
Needs standard powers of attorney or an advance directive
Wants to make sure trusted people are designated to help if needed
Does not have unusually complicated assets or family circumstances
There are also situations where working directly with an estate planning attorney may be more appropriate.
For example, you may want to speak with an attorney if you have:
Significant or complicated assets
Ownership in a business
Foreign property or foreign financial accounts
Complex trusts or tax-planning needs
Complicated family relationships
Concerns that family members may dispute your wishes
Other circumstances that require individualized legal advice
If your situation falls outside what our templates are designed to handle, we would rather point you toward the appropriate professional than try to fit a complicated situation into a simple document.
A Quick Note About Our Role
Hometown Senior Solutions is not a law firm, and our team members are not attorneys.
We do not provide legal advice or tell you what legal decisions you should make.
The estate planning templates we use were created by a local attorney. Our role is to help you complete the information requested in those documents and make the process easier to navigate.
If you need legal advice, have questions about how the law applies to your specific situation, or have a more complicated estate, we may recommend that you work directly with an attorney.
You Don't Have to Have Everything Figured Out Before You Schedule
If you are reading this and thinking, I still don't know exactly who I want to name or I'm not sure what I want to put in my documents, that is okay.
You do not have to arrive with a perfectly organized folder and every decision already made.
Having some basic information handy and thinking through the people you trust is a great place to start.
The important thing is getting the conversation started.
Ready to take the next step?
Schedule an estate planning appointment with Hometown Senior Solutions and we can help you determine whether our attorney-created templates are a good fit for your situation.
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