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Dubuar, Lirhus & Engel LLP
206-728-5858
Estate Plan Documents
Following are descriptions of estate plan documents that every estate plan should consider. Most of these will ultimately be included in some fashion in your personal estate plan.
If your net estate market value (combined value of both spouses if married) is more than $2,000,000, your estate plan becomes more complex because you have to consider estate tax implications. The $2,000,000 figure includes life insurance. The discussion below does not consider estate tax planning. The same basic documents would likely be included, but there may be additional documents and they may be more complex.
Health Care Directive.
In this document you specify what you want to happen to you in the event you are in such a condition that you are being artificially kept alive.
Form: Health Care Directive
Designation of Agent for Health Care Decisions.
With this document you can appoint a trusted person (usually your spouse if you are married) to make health care decisions for you in the event you cannot make them yourself.
Durable Power of Attorney.
This is the document where you appoint another person to be your attorney-in-fact. This power of attorney can become effective immediately, or you can make it effective only if you become incompetent. The document is usually comprehensive, covering many contingencies. A major purpose of the Durable Power of Attorney is to avoid expenses of a court-appointed guardian if a person becomes incapable of making decisions.
Community Property Agreement.
You can use this simple, two-page document to transfer all of the property of one spouse to the other when one spouse dies. By using this method of transferring your property, you can avoid probate. The community property agreement can cause serious problems if a husband's and wife's combined estate is over $2,000,000. This includes life insurance. At that point you should be concerned about estate tax ramifications. Community property agreements can also cause difficulties if spouses are contemplating a separation or dissolution of their marriage, or if either spouse has children from a prior marriage. Some of these agreements are fairly simple and only a few paragraphs, but others require more thought to accomplish what you want.
Will.
We try to make the will as simple as possible; however, there are many legal principles to be covered in the will so it can become cumbersome. Most young couples with small children will want to leave everything to the surviving spouse if one of them dies. If they both die, they will want to leave everything in a trust for their minor children. We will provide language and ideas for a children's trust. We will also help you arrange life insurance policies so if both parents died, the life insurance money would go to the trustee for the children as specified in the will. Parents can say in their will when a child will receive the money (e.g. at 25 years), rather than at the moment the child turns 18 years of age, which is what will happen if there is no trust.
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The information in this web site is all general information. The information is applicable only to the state of Washington, unless otherwise stated. This general information is not legal advice for your particular circumstances. If you have legal questions you should consult your lawyer.