At your death, probate assets are frequently put on “hold” until a probate court authorizes their release to beneficiaries or heirs. A way to avoid this delay is by converting accounts to “pay on death” accounts.

A “pay on death” account accomplishes precisely what the name implies. When you die, the account is paid out to the beneficiary designated by you when you converted the account. Because the account has been converted to a “pay on death” account, the assets are not required to be included in your estate for probate purposes. However, by avoiding the probate process you also lose the benefits drafted into your estate plan for your beneficiaries. As such, consult with your Atlanta estate planning attorney before using a “pay on death” account and don’t rely on such accounts in lieu of an estate plan.

Incapacity can strike at any time and for any reason. A devastating car crash, stroke or other medical emergency can leave you unconscious and unable to express your wishes. As we age, mental incapacity is also a possibility that no one wants to think about but must be faced. Although you cannot prevent the possibility of an incapacitating event, you can create a legal plan for the possibility that protects you in the event that the possibility becomes a reality.

People often mistakenly assume your spouse will legally be allowed to make healthcare decisions on your part. This is simply not the case. In the absence of a healthcare directive, a loved one may need to petition a court for the right to make those decisions. By executing a healthcare directives prior to your incapacitation, you are legally appointing that person, as well as an alternative if you choose, to make those decisions on your behalf.

Furthermore, an advance directive for healthcare allows you to specify what type of treatment you wish to authorize in the event of your incapacity. For example, you can authorize life sustaining measures such as a breathing machine or specifically indicate that you do not wish those measures to be taken. You can also decide whether or not you wish to authorize experimental treatments.

As the name implies, home care offers assistance by providing a registered nurse, nurses aid, therapist or other health care professional in your own home or that of your loved one on an as-needed basis. This type of care may be provided on a daily weekly or monthly basis. The extent of the home care assistance will depend on the needs of the patient and the family members who are caring for the patient.

Assisted living facilities have gained popularity as a way for individuals who live independent lives but are unable to fully care for themselves, yet do not need around the clock care. An assisted living facility often provides the individual with his or her own living quarters within a community that is staffed by health care professionals. While the individual is allowed the freedom and independence to perform those tasks he or she is able to perform without help, help is always close by for those tasks that require assistance.

A final long term care option is a nursing home. Nursing homes provide around the clock care for individuals who are unable to care for themselves. If your family member or loved one requires extensive and regular medical attention, or is unable to function independently, then a nursing home may be the best

A pet trust requires you to appoint a trustee to take care of the administration of the trust. Your may or may not be the same person who has the day to day care of your pet. For example, you may feel more comfortable with your attorney or your bank handling the money aspects of the trust, but want a family member to care for your pet, then you may choose to set up your trust accordingly.

You are also required to fund your pet trust. How much money or assets you decide to place in the trust is your decision. Consider the life expectancy of your pet as well as the cost of keeping your pet in the style to which he or she is accustomed to living. Also take into account the fact that your pet will age and likely need additional care and medical treatment as he or she ages.

The terms of your trust can be as flexible or as specific as you decide. The funds will be distributed to the caregiver according to your instructions. You can choose, for example, to distribute the funds on a monthly or yearly basis with a provision that additional funds can be accessed for emergencies or extraordinary medical treatment. Talk to your estate planning attorney for specific details.

There are a number of reasons why creating a Will is important when you have young children. One practical consideration is avoidance of probate. In most states, when a decedent dies without leaving a valid Will behind, the estate is required to pass through the legal process known as probate in order to determine the intestate heirs. Probate can take months to complete leaving those assets that you did intend to leave behind for your children inaccessible until the probate process concludes.

Along with avoiding probate, your Will can be the only opportunity to choose a guardian for your children. In a situation where the other parent is not living, or not in the child’s life, or where both parents die at the same time, the court will have to appoint a guardian for any minor children.

An advance directive for healthcare generally allows you to accomplish two goals. First, you appoint someone to make health care decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so in the future. Next, you have the opportunity to express what treatments or care you do, or do not, want in the event you are unable to express those wishes if incapacitated at a later time. For example, you may be able to indicate whether you wish life sustaining measures to be taken on your behalf as well as whether or not you wish to be given intravenous food.

Many people mistakenly believe that a spouse, parent or child will automatically be allowed to make health care decisions in the event you are unable to do so as a result of incapacity. In reality, a court must generally make the decision regarding who will be allowed to make decisions on your behalf. Although the court may eventually decide that your spouse, parent or child is the appropriate person to appoint, valuable time may be wasted in the meantime.

Although it is impossible to make all possible decisions ahead of time with regard to your health care or treatment, an advance directive for healthcare allows you to legally express certain wishes ahead of time.

The trustee plays a critical role in a trust. While the terms of a trust dictate how the trust assets are to be handled, the trustee has the day to day control over the trust assets once the trust becomes active. The trustee is charged with not only protecting the trust assets, but also attempting to grow those assets by investing them in many cases. As you can clearly see, the choice of trustee is an extremely important decisions when creating a trust. Although a family member or loved one may seem a logical choice for trustee, many people choose to appoint an attorney or bank because of the impact the trustee has on the trust.

Along with guarding and growing the trust assets, the trustee has an obligation to the beneficiaries to treat them equally and impartially and to keep them informed. In some cases, this obligation can be complicated. For example, if a trust has current as well as future beneficiaries, the trustee must consider what decisions allow both classes of beneficiaries the most benefits when investing the trust assets.

Additional trustee responsibilities include disbursing the trust assets as directed by the trust, keeping records of the trust business and filing tax returns with state and local tax authorities.

An asset trust, as implied by the name, is a trust that has protection of assets as the main purpose of the trust. The grantor may be attempting to shield the trust assets from creditors or taxes, for example. An asset protection trust works by separating the benefits of the trust assets from legal ownership of the assets. In other words, the idea is to allow the trust beneficiary to enjoy the benefits of the trust assets without having actual legal ownership of the assets. With no legal rights of ownership to the trust assets, the beneficiary cannot be taxed on the assets and creditors of the beneficiary cannot attach a lien to the assets or garnish the assets.

State laws govern the availability and formation of an asset trust within the United States. In most cases, an asset protection trust must be irrevocable to qualify. In addition, most asset protection trusts include a spendthrift provision which prevents the beneficiary from alienating his or her benefits in favor of a creditor or a third party. Asset protection trusts are not impenetrable, however. Child support obligations, for example, can often penetrate the shield of an asset protection trust. Historically, a grantor who was also the beneficiary of the trust was not an allowable asset protection trust; however, many states have made changes which now allow for self-settled asset protection trusts under certain conditions.

The Internal Revenue Code requires estate taxes to be paid on the estate of a decedent before any assets can be transferred, or passed down, to the beneficiaries or heirs. Although the estate tax rate changes on a regular basis, it is not uncommon for it to be as high as the highest individual income tax bracket. To put this in perspective, if you leave an estate valued at one million dollars, it is possible that over $300,000 of your estate will be lost to taxes before your heirs, or beneficiaries, receive anything. One solution, or loophole in the IRS code, is to use a generation skipping trust.

A trust is a legal agreement that requires a grantor (you), a trustee, a beneficiary and assets to fund the trust. As implied by the name, a generation skipping trust is a trust created by you that names your grandchildren as the beneficiaries, thereby “skipping” a generation. By leaving the assets to your grandchildren, they are not subject to estate taxes. Your children do not have to be left out of the trust entirely. You may be able to draft the trust in such a way that your children can receive benefits from the trust in the form of interest, for example, while the principal trust assets remain in the name of your grandchildren. By using generation skipping trusts, a family can often keep a sizable estate in the family for many generations without losing the bulk of it to estate taxes. Consult with your estate planning attorney for details about how a generation skipping trust may work for your estate planning purposes.

Life insurance comes in two basic types — term and permanent life insurance. Variations of the two main types have evolved over the years, but understanding the principal differences between term and permanent life insurance policies is a good place to start.

A term life insurance policy is purchased solely for the purpose of providing money to a beneficiary, or beneficiaries, upon your death. A term life insurance policy is not an investment. All policy premiums are lost once paid, meaning the policy does not accrue equity. The benefit to a term life insurance policy is generally the lower cost of the premiums. Because a term life insurance policy does not offer any growth on the capital invested, the premiums are usually significantly lower than premiums for a whole life policy.

A permanent life policy, on the other hand, offers both financial security for loved ones as well as investment potential for the policy owner. While a permanent life insurance policy does provide benefits upon the death of the insured, it can also provide a cash reserve that can be accessed at any time by the policy holder. A “loan” can be taken out against the value of the policy by the policy holder once enough funds have accrued in the form of premium payments. Premiums are often higher for permanent life insurance policy, but are also typically fixed.