What You Should Know About a Power of Attorney

If you’re about to undergo major surgery or have been diagnosed with a debilitating disease, you definitely want to consider filling out a power of attorney document. These documents allow you to appoint an individual or company to handle your affairs in the event that you are no longer able to do so. Since there are several different POA types, it’s important to understand how much control each type provides.

Power of Attorney Types to Consider

There is a variety of different power of attorney types that you’ll want to consider, the primary of which is a general power of attorney. This type of POA provides the person or organization with relatively broad powers over your affairs, which means that they can handle health care decisions, financial and business transactions, and much more. A health care power of attorney is used specifically to appoint someone to make health care decisions for you in the event that you are mentally incompetent or unconscious. This is similar to a living will. Finally, a special power of attorney is one where you can specify the exact types of decisions that the person or company can make on your behalf.

Make Sure That You Appoint the Right Person

It’s essential that you appoint someone you trust to be your POA. This individual could be making medical, financial, or business decisions for you, which means that you need to have complete confidence that this person will make decisions that adhere to your wishes.

How to Finalize Power of Attorney Form

If you’ve found someone who has agreed to be your power of attorney, keep in mind that you will need to sign and notarize the power of attorney document. Several copies of this document will also need to be certified. Certain businesses and banks won’t allow the POA to make decisions for you unless they’ve received a certified copy of the document. You should also think about meeting with an estate planning attorney in Las Vegas to make sure that all legal requirements for a POA have been met.

Why Is the Probate Process Important?

In Las Vegas, Nevada, and elsewhere in the country, probate is a process that is settled through the court. When a person dies, the court appoints their surviving spouse or adult child to serve as an executor. The estate executor, also known as the personal representative, is a person who is legally authorized to handle all the assets owned by the decedent’s estate. They are also responsible for paying all bills and taxes and eventually handle the distribution of assets to the individual’s beneficiaries.

What is the Purpose of the Probate Process?

In general, the purpose of probate is to prevent an instance of fraud after a person’s death. Essentially, the process freezes the individual’s estate until a judge makes a determination on whether a will is legally valid. Additionally, probate ensures that the estate is recognized and appraised and that all creditors and taxes are paid. Afterward, the court will issue an order to distribute the property, which ultimately closes the estate.

Role of a Probate Lawyer

In some cases, a probate lawyer can be hired to provide vital advice to the executor or beneficiaries on a variety of issues. The best probate attorney in Las Vegas has to offer can review the decedent’s will to determine whether it is valid before it reaches the court. For example, if the decedent was an elderly person with Alzheimer’s or dementia, they might have been vulnerable due to manipulation by other people who wanted to cheat the individual’s loved ones by claiming the estate or a majority of it.

Types of Probate in Nevada

In Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada, there are various types of probate that can take place depending on the monetary amount of the estate. When an estate is small, it goes through a simpler process and is cheaper overall than one that is large. The four types of probate include the following:

• Affidavit of Entitlement: An estate that is worth under $25,000 allows a surviving spouse to use an Affidavit of Entitlement as this type of estate doesn’t include any real estate.
• Set Aside: This represents an estate whose value is under $100,000.
• Summary Administration: This represents estates whose value is under $300,000.
• General Administration: All other estates fall under the General Administration category, which involves full-blown probate.

Secure Ways to Keep Your Passwords Organized

If you have an email account, a bank account or a social media profile, you have an account that is protected by a password. After your death, you want those accounts to either be closed or controlled by someone who has your best interests in mind. Therefore, it is important that you keep a list of passwords in a safe place that is easy to access.

Put a List of Passwords in a Safe Deposit Box

If you don’t want to keep your passwords stored on a computer or other digital server, you can always write them down and keep them in a safe deposit box. The box itself can only be accessed by someone who has permission to do so, which means that the list should be safe while you’re alive. However, it may be necessary to leave a note telling an executor or other authorized person where the safe deposit box is.

Is Your Computer Password Protected?

If you access a bank account or other digital account through a single computer or mobile device, you may have chosen to save your passwords on that device. In such a scenario, it may only be necessary for an executor to know the password to the computer or tablet itself. The password to your computer can be kept in a drawer or included as part of your will or other estate plan documents.

Do What Works Best for You

Regardless of how you keep track of your passwords, it is important that you do so in a way that is easy and convenient for you. An estate planning lawyer in Las Vegas may provide additional advice and insight into how you can keep your digital assets organized and secure.

Reasons to Make a Trust If You Get Remarried

It is not uncommon for individuals in the United States to be married more than once. In fact, the divorce rate for those who are 55 and older has steadily increased since 1990. Therefore, it is important that you strike a balance between providing for a second or third spouse and providing for your biological children when you pass on.

The Benefits of Using a Trust After Remarrying

There are several reasons why a trust can be preferable to a will when it comes to leaving assets for your children. Perhaps the best reason is that the trust will be overseen by someone of your choosing who understands your estate planning goals and intent.

Additionally, the trust is not part of an estate, which means it will be harder to challenge during the probate process. These protections mean that your children will likely receive their inheritance in a timely regardless of how well they get along with your spouse.

Trusts Can Also Provide for Your Spouse

A remainder trust can be an ideal compromise that allows your surviving spouse to maintain his or her lifestyle after you pass. After your spouse passes, your children will receive whatever is left in the trust. You can put language in the document that limits the amount of money that can be taken out of it per year or place other restrictions on how it can be used.

Review Your Trust Regularly

It is a best practice to review your trust regularly to ensure that it meets your needs. A trust administration lawyer in Las Vegas will be able to help with the review process and suggest any changes that could make it stronger.

How to Structure Your Estate Planning Around Your Pension

If you are fortunate enough to have a pension plan through your job, it may be an asset that is part of your estate if you die before retirement which is distributed according to the rules of the plan. Here are some considerations for what happens to your pension when you pass away.

Different Pensions Have Varying Rules

Depending on how the pension is structured, the payment for the beneficiary may be different. Some pensions will pay one lump sum as a death benefit to the beneficiary. If that happens, the beneficiary must pay taxes on that amount as if it were income, and the estate tax exemptions do not apply. Other pensions will still make payments to the beneficiary as a lifetime annuity or even over a shorter period of time. It is important for your financial and estate planning purposes to know the rules of your pension plan.

Make Sure to Name a Beneficiary

Like any asset, you must make sure that you name a beneficiary for your pension plan. If not, you will lose control over who receives the proceeds of your pension when you die. The recipient may be dictated by the rules of the pension or the laws of the state where your will is administered. If you have any questions about how to name a beneficiary for your pension plan, make sure to contact an estate planning attorney in Las Vegas can offer. If you have any life changes, make sure to review and update this beneficiary as necessary.

The Beneficiary Can Still Get Favorable Tax Treatment

Depending on the rules of the pension plan, the beneficiary may not need to pay taxes on the lump-sum benefit upfront or all at once. The beneficiary may be able to roll the benefit over to another retirement plan. If they are able to do that, then they will not have to pay taxes until they actually withdraw the money. Alternatively, the beneficiary can annuitize the proceeds and pay taxes when they receive the income from the annuity.