Are you busy looking for the perfect gift for each of your family members on your list? Do all your children and grandchildren come to your house in Florida to celebrate the holidays? Are you busy wrapping gifts, decorating your house, arranging excursions and preparing delicious meals for the holidays? As you rush around trying to complete your shopping list for holiday gifts for your family, what about completing or updating your Florida estate plan? It may be the best gift you can give to your loved ones.
Do you have a current Florida estate plan? Or does your Florida estate plan need to be updated? As a Florida senior, do you have questions about how to create an estate plan? Do you have questions like:
- Who will make your decisions if you are not able to make them for yourself?
- If you are in a car accident, who will have the legal authority to pay your bills?
- Who could handle your business affairs if you can not?
- What would happen to your pets if you were hospitalized?
- Should your adult children be in charge of your finances?
- Do you need additional insurance policies?
- Will your retirement plans be able to support you as you age?
- If you have out of state estate planning documents, will they work in Florida?
- Have the laws changed in the past few years that now makes your planning irrelevant?
- Have there been any changes in your family structure that necessitate the need to update your planning?
The questions above are all important. In fact, we hear similar questions everyday from our clients and their family members. When it comes to Florida estate planning, you need the reassurance that your estate plan will work when you need it to. That is why we consider a completed Florida estate plan, which will inform your loved ones what you want for yourself, quite possibly the best gift you can give your loved ones.
However, elder law planning is a second planning component that needs to be addressed and completed in addition to your Florida estate planning which is a critical part of your health and wellbeing. Are you aware that the majority of Americans over the age of 70 will need some form of long-term care? Therefore, long-term care planning which is a part of elder law planning is critical. Unfortunately, much of this care is not covered by Medicare and will fall on the Florida elder to pay for out of pocket. As elder law attorneys, we can assure you it does not have to be this way. We can work with you to not only create an estate plan but also a long-term care plan that can protect the estate plan you are putting in place and allow you to be able to leave a legacy for your family, no matter what the future holds.
We know this article may raise more questions than it answers. The Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys (AFELA) is the pre-eminent organization of Florida elder law attorneys providing advocacy, education and action on behalf of seniors and people with disabilities. We encourage you to contact one of our attorneys in your area using our Find a Lawyer website for assistance.