As an estate planning and elder law attorney, I have seen a lot of families over my 25 years of practicing law. There are five topics that I wish many families knew about estate and asset protection planning:

1. One of the big benefits of estate planning is the ability to reduce conflict.

Family dynamics are one of the most challenging areas of estate planning. When attorneys talk with clients, we ask them about who will be their agents in the Powers of Attorney. Who is good at making these decisions for them when their spouse is unavailable? What child is good at paying bills or making healthcare decisions? If you name more than one child, can they get along, or will they disagree over decisions?

A good estate plan also resolves issues related to the distribution of the assets. If you want one of the children to have the right to purchase your home at the time of your passing, you can put that instruction in your Will. That will reduce disagreements over what will happen with the home. You could also include a right to reside in the home given to one child and an instruction to divide the proceeds from the sale equally when they no longer want to live in the house.

2. There is a big misunderstanding that “elder law” only affects those who are elderly.

While many of the elder law issues do tend to affect us as we age, you can visit an elder law attorney even if you do not consider yourself part of the elderly population. One of the big topics that we address is how to protect assets, like a home, from the cost of potential care in the future. This issue is usually addressed at the time of retirement, well before our clients reach an age where they could be considered elderly. Given the five (5) year look back on transfers, engaging in that planning makes sense when you are younger and can benefit from the asset protection plan, such as transferring your home to an asset protection trust.

3. Procrastination reduces your asset protection planning options.

This is true in asset protection planning. There are timing considerations when trying to protect assets, particularly from the cost of your care. No lawyer has a crystal ball. We cannot see when or how the crisis will occur. What we do know is that those who wish to shelter assets from the cost of their care can do so, provided they transfer assets well ahead of a health crisis. The five (5) year look-back period is associated with eligibility for government benefits. Wait too long, and you cannot transfer assets to your children or an asset protection trust to protect them from your cost of care, particularly in a nursing home.

4. Estate Planning is not for the young.

Estate planning attorneys prepare wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents. We prepare estate plans for clients of all ages, such as those with young children who want to prepare a plan for the however unlikely scenario where they would predecease their children. We prepare Wills for our young clients with trusts for minor children to be managed by a trusted family member and name a guardian to care for the minors when the parents are not available, either due to death or disability. Estate planning is for clients of all ages.

5. Estate Planning is more than just a Will.

A Will disposes of the assets in a person’s name when they pass. There are many assets that pass due to the naming of beneficiaries or joint ownership. So, the use of a Will to dispose of assets at a person’s passing can be limited. In most married situations, it is not necessary to use a Will since the spouse is a co-owner of accounts or a beneficiary.

Powers of Attorney are used when someone is incapacitated, and another person is helping them to pay bills or make medical decisions. They can also include an Advance Directive, giving instructions for end-of-life care. These documents are used over many years during a person’s lifetime and can be just as beneficial as a document that distributes assets at a person’s passing.