Financial Portions of Your Estate Plan Include Such Issues as Health Care

Added: (Fri Jan 22 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Gene L. Osofsky, of the law firm Osofsky & Osofsky, discusses health care & minor children and guardianship as important components of your estate plan.

According to Gene L. Osofsky, a lawyer with the firm Osofsky & Osofsky who is well-versed in the preparation of estate plans and related issues, certain components such as health care-related documents, and documents pertaining to minor children (such as a nomination of guardian), are important components of your estate plan.

“Health care documents should be on your front burner,” Osofsky says, “They should include an Advanced Health Care Directive or Health Care Power of Attorney, a Nomination of Conservator, and a HIPAA release.” But that may not be all. “If minor children are involved, you should also have a document – perhaps you’ll need to create it – authorizing a close friend or family member to make health care decisions for your child or children in case you and your spouse are unavailable in an emergency,” Osofsky asserts. The date of your signature on this documentation can also be important. “If your signature has become ‘stale,’ especially if changes in your health have occurred, it’s a good idea to re-sign these documents to keep them ‘fresh,’ Osofsky explains, “A good yardstick for this is typically 3-5 years.”

Another key area is the issue of minor children and guardianship, and the relevant documents involved. “You should have within this portion of your estate plan a documents addressing Nomination of Guardian, Exclusion of Guardianship (if you intend to exclude anyone who might otherwise be close family members and have priority under the law if you fail to nominate others), and often a Memorandum of Intent,” says Osofsky.

Updates are a good idea as circumstances change. “If circumstances or relationships have changed and you are uncomfortable with anyone nominated in the documents to serve as guardian, you’ll want to execute a new one,” Osofsky explains. Sometimes the minor child may want to get involved with their guardianship situation as they get older. “As your minor child becomes a teen and approaches the age of majority, he or she may want to have some input in the process,” Osofsky concludes.