Many Illinois residents fail to create estate plans. Some feel as if they do not have enough assets to make creating an estate plan worthwhile. Others neglect to create them because they fear there is a significant time commitment or expense involved. However, creating a basic estate plan offers benefits for everyone, regardless of how much money you may have in your bank account or elsewhere.
According to Bankrate, your estate plan does not have to be highly complex to help you accomplish important objectives. Instead, many people choose to put together estate plans that contain just three components: a will, an advance health care directive and a power of attorney.
The will
When you die without a will, you might create unnecessary hardships for your family members and other loved ones. Your estate must go through probate, which may lead to delays in terms of distributing your estate. Having a will gives you an opportunity to say who you want to inherit your assets so you do not leave the decision up to the state.
The advance medical directive
Advance medical directives let you state what you wish to happen to you in the medical sense if you suffer incapacitation. You may use yours to say if you want doctors to attempt to resuscitate you, if you wish to be an organ donor and so on.
The power of attorney
When you give someone power of attorney, you are giving this individual the ability to access your bank accounts and other financial affairs. This helps ensure you do not leave debts unpaid when you die.
While you may decide later to add other elements to your estate plan, having a will, an advance directive and a power of attorney in place is a great way to start.
