Are you beginning the new year by focusing on your goals and resolutions? Have you decided to begin with getting organized? Are you adding new and better habits? With all the many ideas you have about how you will achieve the resolutions you set for yourself, we would like to share one that is both easy and critical to complete!

Creating or updating your Florida estate plan is probably the most important New Year’s Resolution you can make this year. Did you know that the estate plan you create can protect you during your lifetime and your estate when you pass away. In addition, if you already have an estate plan in place, take steps to help ensure your estate plan is and remains updated to reflect your most current circumstances and goals. Keep in mind that your estate planning attorney will be sure that your choices and wishes surrounding your health care and finances are honored by your chosen decision maker. By creating a legacy you will have the peace of mind that your family will be provided for when you pass away.

A Florida estate plan has many potential benefits so make this resolution your number one priority and begin as soon as possible! If you have an existing estate plan, time is of the essence to review it and ensure that it still meets your needs. To maximize the potential benefits a Florida estate plan has to offer, it is not only necessary to put the plan in place sooner rather than later, but to also use a variety of legal planning tools to address how your assets will be managed and distributed in the event of your death or incapacity, among other things. As many changes can happen within your family, your business, and your finances in a year, it can be important to make sure your estate plan remains effective in not only encapsulating the desired future for you and your loved ones, but also has the best tools in place to accomplish those goals. This means that when there is a birth, death, divorce, or other life update or changes in laws, you should make it a priority, and an achievable resolution, to work with your attorney to determine if your estate plan needs any updates or significant changes.

Your Florida estate planning attorney can discuss with you the importance of lifetime planning tools such as the durable power of attorney for your finances and related health care documents like the living will. She can also help you decide who should be your decision maker, and back up decision maker, in times of crisis or in an emergency situation. Your attorney can also discuss with you the difference between will based estate planning and trust based estate planning. While a will is subject to the Florida probate court, a trust is not. You can make it one of your achievable resolutions to learn more about these two planning tools, as well as how a trust can be a very versatile estate planning vehicle to help protect and distribute your assets.

We know this article may raise more questions than it answers. We want to help you achieve the New Year’s Resolution of having a Florida estate plan that can meet your needs. We encourage you to contact us and schedule a meeting. To learn more about Meloro Law and how we can help you when you need legal representation for estate planning or elder law issues do not wait to call us today.

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