Creating Estate Planning Documents During the Coronavirus Outbreak – What Do I Need to Know?

In this article, you will learn why it is necessary to create certain estate planning documents during the coronavirus outbreak and how Jurado & Farshchian, P.L. can help ensure you have a comprehensive estate plan that protects both your assets and your loved ones.

Healthcare Power of Attorney

With a Healthcare Power of Attorney, you can authorize someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf in case of a serious medical emergency. Unfortunately, tragic events often happen out of nowhere, so it is a good idea to plan for these scenarios ahead of time. In the case of a lengthy hospital stay or incapacitation, one of the things families worry about the most is the wellbeing of their loved one. Imagine if there was no one authorized to make medical decisions on your behalf or if your family had no instructions regarding your wishes and had to simply guess.

Even worse, the decisions regarding your medical care could be placed in the hands of a court. Why? Because, without a Healthcare Power of Attorney, your loved ones would need to petition the court to gain the legal right to make medical decisions on your behalf. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, however, courts in Florida are running at limited capacity to limit the spread of the virus. As a result, the process could take days, weeks, or even months.

The good news is, creating estate planning documents during the coronavirus outbreak is not only possible but also easy when you work with the right lawyers.

Living Will

In a Living Will, you can document your medical wishes in case you become incapacitated and cannot communicate them yourself. While a Healthcare Power of Attorney appoints an individual to legally make medical decisions on your behalf, a Living Will outlines your actual wishes in detail for them to follow with respect to your medical care. In other words, a Living Will outlines the types of medical treatment you would or would not want to receive in certain situations. The assertions made in this type of document include whether you would like artificial respiration, CPR, maximum pain relief, artificial nutrition and hydration, or to donate organs, which eliminates any confusion about certain medical treatments that you would or would not have wanted.

A Living Will can be a big stress reliever for your family – it removes the guilt from the process of making difficult medical decisions.

Durable Financial Power of Attorney

When creating estate planning documents during the coronavirus outbreak, you should not focus on your healthcare exclusively. Another major stressor for families dealing with the incapacity of a loved one is the person’s finances. You should make sure there is a way for your loved ones to legally access your finances to apply for insurance, pay bills and medical expenses, etc. If you suddenly become seriously ill and incapacitated, who will pay your mortgage? Who will file your taxes and pay your bills? Will your family even be able to access your personal bank accounts?

With a Durable Financial Power of Attorney, you can alleviate some of the financial stressors and prevent your loved ones from having to go to court to request permission to access and manage your bank accounts.

When you create a Financial Power of Attorney, you authorize an agent to act legally on your behalf to do the following:

• Pay your bills,
• Make deposits,
• Buy insurance,
• Sign your checks, and
• Sell your property.

Revocable Living Trust

A Revocable Living Trust is one of the most important estate planning documents to consider creating during the coronavirus pandemic. Similar to a Will, a Revocable Living Trust allows you to pass your assets on to your loved ones in the event you pass away. However, a Revocable Living Trust has significant advantages over a Will, including the ability to plan for situations where you become incapacitated and, therefore, unable to make decisions on your own, and the ability to avoid the costly and time-consuming Florida probate process. Without a Revocable Living Trust, your family will have to go through probate before they can receive the assets. Probate is a long process, and mandated court closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic will surely make it even longer.

Another benefit of creating a Trust is that you can change or revoke it at any time while you are still alive, which gives you the ability to modify your estate plan if your situation changes in the future. This gives you a lot of flexibility.

Creating Estate Planning Documents During the Coronavirus Outbreak – Work with Experts

If you are interested in creating your estate plan to have the peace of mind that your loved ones, money, and property will be taken care of, Jurado & Farshchian, P.L. can help.

We are currently offering a reduced flat fee of $999 for our legal representation, which includes the drafting of the following estate planning documents:

• Last Will & Testament,
• Durable Power of Attorney,
• Living Will, and
• Health Care Surrogate Designation.

Do you have any questions about how to create estate planning documents during the coronavirus outbreak? Do not hesitate to contact us today. Call Jurado & Farshchian, P.L. at (305) 921-0440 or send us an email to Romy@JFLawFirm.com.