Earlier this month I announced my September to-do list. For various (bad) reasons, I dropped the ball. So today I pick it up on one of the most important parts of anyone’s financial plan – the estate plan. The plan is to rough out the general concepts and bring it to an estate attorney to get it all down on paper in October.
For the purpose of this rough-out, I decided to head over to MSN Money and run down their five minute guide to estate planning. I didn’t do a ton of research on “guides” to estate planning because I have a general sense of what I want it to look like. Also, I wanted a simple one to show my family, friends and all of you that it doesn’t have to be complicated. (I also wanted to check against their “five-minute” reference…)
Anyhow, here are my initial thoughts on MSN’s suggestions:
My will
Our life is fairly simple right now. We are married with one kid. If one of us dies, the plan is the other gets it all. If we both die (is it socially acceptable to use the word die?), the hard part is going to be who gets our son. (I’m pretty sure that’s not the right way to describe it. I think it’s supposed to be who “cares for” our son, right?)
That’s an uncomfortable conversation that we’ve tried to have before without much success. I think we’ll do a little better now. My wife suggested one of her relatives. I suggested going outside of our families. In the end, we’ll talk this through but will probably defer to her wishes as long as it makes general sense (which it will, I’m sure – we have great options, so there is really no “wrong” answer for us).
As for the other items:
- simultaneous death clause – very important and we’ll make sure it’s in there;
- required percentage to go to “our spouse” – not going to be a problem;
- children from prior marriage – not an issue;
- disinherit a child – not yet – ha! (Don’t worry, he can’t read yet…) In all seriousness, I’m not worried about this one;
- tying bequests to an heir’s behavior – not a problem. As we revisit our estate plan, we may start a baby-trust if we start feeling the need for greater control from beyond the grave…;
- keep insurance beneficiaries current – check;
- giving stuff away before we die – great idea, which we’ll progressively implement, but it’s probably a little early to start giving away $26,000 per year! and
- naming an executor and back-up – check.
Fulfilling our final wishes
Designating an executor isn’t going to be a problem. And all of the other points under the “fulfilling your final wishes” category are the executor’s problem! Ha! Seriously, we have plenty of great choices for executors, who will be just fine going through the process. And our financial lives are simple enough right now that it won’t be rocket science going through our estate.
Taxes
I need to do a little research on this one. We definitely don’t have to worry about federal estate taxes just yet (even if nothing changes between now and 2011). But I don’t know enough about the state tax treatment to speak intelligently about it. I imagine we’ll be fine, but I should definitely check. I’ll keep you posted.
Still breathing?
This one is a tough one. We’ll definitely put together a durable power of attorney for finances, living will and health care proxy.
The biggest issue we have is that I have no idea if I want to be resuscitated. I guess unless I know that I don’t, I shouldn’t choose “do not resuscitate,” right? It’s one of those “can’t undo” things…
Plus, for the longest time, it’s only been about “me.” Now that I have a wife and son, they may have an opinion as to whether they want me around 
I’ll definitely ask my wife what she prefers on this. Let’s hope she wants me to live generally 
I know – the issue is more complicated than that and it’s not just “live or die.” So until I know, I think I’m going to choose “keep me plugged in please.”
I definitely need to do some more research and soul searching on this one.
Funeral
I really like the suggestions in the article (even if they’re tucked away at the bottom). I’m definitely going to hit up http://www.funerals.org/. I’ve heard great things about it and that it can save up to 75% off the cost of a funeral and ease the emotional burden of your loved ones by having everything planned out ahead of time.
Hmmm… it looks like I have quite a bit of work to do. But I have a general idea and I’m committed to getting it done. I know I should have done it earlier, but thank God I’m still here to do it!
Now, what did I miss? What were your toughest issues? How did you resolve them?
Until next time, put your credit card down and slowly step away from the mall!
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