When it comes to estate planning, too many people in the Brooklyn area put it off and continue to ignore its importance. You may feel like you have plenty of time to sit down and create your estate plans, but there is no guarantee for tomorrow. A lot of things could happen that could force you to change your lifestyle and depend on others for the necessities that you normally do for yourself. Those same circumstances could also have an adverse effect on the amount of wealth you have to leave behind to your loved ones.
Though you do not look forward to thinking about becoming so old that you require long-term care and your loved ones to handle your affairs, you may find you cannot afford not to have estate planning documents in place. To better understand the importance of having estate plans, consider the following information.
Illness can strike at any time
Overall, you appear to be in good health. You visit the doctor regularly, eat well and maintain an active lifestyle. One day out of the blue, you suffer an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH stroke). Your prognosis is good. However, it will be a few weeks before you are capable of returning home and managing your financial affairs. You have family members you want to take over your finances until you are capable of doing so on your own.
Allows you to maintain some control
Without a financial power of attorney in place, your relatives could encounter many challenges when taking over your financial duties because they do not have the legal authority to act on your behalf. Depending on the severity of your condition, you may also require someone to make decisions regarding your medical care. Without a health care power of attorney and similar planning documents, you could end up receiving medical treatments you do not want.
Estate plans allow you to prepare and maintain control over things you normally would not be able to retain control over. As people get older, some of them lose their ability to remain independent. There is a possibility that you may too. By taking time now to anticipate the future and potential issues that could keep you from living the life you want, you can create estate plans aimed at minimizing the changes you have to make and the impact they may have on your life.