Is It Ever Too Early To Start Elder Orphan Planning For The Future?
It is never too early for someone to start planning. If you know that you do not have children or close family members to take care of you as you age, you will create relationships. With relationships, you will receive trust, accountability, and reliability. You can have a relationship with an attorney, depending on their age, throughout that attorney’s career.
As relationships go in and out of your life, the relationship with your attorney may not change, which is very where that attorney is a good advocate for you. Your attorney will be a witness to your thought process and discussions about the matter. The attorney will have documented some of the desires that you expressed concerning your care as you age and pass away. That attorney, over time, will see how you evolve on those issues. If there is ever a dispute, your attorney will be able to stand up for what you wanted.
When it comes to the people you select in your estate planning documents, it is never too early. These people will perform better for you depending on their relationship with you. There are people who will reciprocate, even though they are not necessarily blood relatives. I have been fortunate enough to see situations where a person unrelated by blood is showing a high degree of integrity because they respect the person whom they have committed to caring for. This is not a relationship that is taken on and agreed to within a six-month period of time. These people are usually former co-workers, former neighbors, former spouses, or best friends.
If you are planning to make deliberate, meaningful relationships with trustworthy people, you will not run out of people who will look out for you as you age. If you are the type of person who is private, introspective, and introverted, you may have trouble building deep meaningful relationships. In that case, it is a good idea to start planning early relationships with professionals. That professional will extract information from you to comply with your wishes, if you become incapacitated as you age.
Nothing about estate planning is perfect. What you absolutely do not want is a last-minute hustle because you are trying to find someone who is going to take care of your life and your life savings on a last-minute basis. If you have some options available, then you can make your choices rather than have your choices made for you by a guardianship court or probate court. It is never too early to start planning, if you are an elder orphan.
How Do You Recommend Elder Orphans Choose People For Important Positions When They Don’t Have Any Close Familial Connections?
The way I recommend elder orphans choose the people they want in these important positions is to first start with their immediate relationships. Some people in old age still know their childhood best friend. That may even be better than a child of theirs. You are looking for someone with a high degree of integrity, who will do the right thing when no one is looking. If, in your inner circle, you don’t have that person, you either need to find that person and develop the relationship or you need to be very keenly interested in the market of professionals who can do this for you on a professional basis.
Just as keenly as you would shop for a car or a house, you need to be aware of the market and costs associated with a professional fiduciary to be your power of attorney and professional healthcare surrogate. There are many former bankers, financial advisors, and nurses, who can do that job. There are also banks and financial institutions who can do that job, as well as attorneys and CPAs. If you do not have an immediate person with whom you have a long-established trust or a healthy relationship, you need to create that through professionals.
What Can Your Firm Do To Assist People With Elder Orphan Planning In Florida?
My firm is an elder law practice, meaning that we are particularly focused on serving clients who may be disabled and are trying to plan for their care and needs in the future. When people do not plan, the law has default results for them. Due to our experience of about 70% of our clientele being people who did not plan, we are in a unique position of anticipating the problems that can occur as you age or pass away.
We go a little deeper in our estate planning conversations than attorneys who may be focused on other things regarding your personal financials, such as taxes. If we are in the position of being the attorney for someone who is an elder orphan, we have a strong preference to meet regularly. It could be annually or every other year to maintain familiarity with your situation and develop the relationship with you and your wishes.
If you do not have someone to name as a professional in any of the jobs of your estate planning documents, we, as a last resort, will accept the position of trustee or personal representative to settle your estate. At times, we can also serve as power of attorney and we can help you select someone to serve as a healthcare surrogate. The structure of our business is designed to build a relationship that will add value to your ageing process and protect you for accountability and transparency purposes.
For more information on Starting Elder Orphan Planning In Florida, an initial consultation is your best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (904) 398-6100 today.
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