March 10, 2022

A big reason why many people put off estate planning is because they’re not in a crisis. Without seeing an immediate need, it’s easy to write off doing the important planning to protect you in case a crisis does happen. While you’ll get the best results and avoid possible conflicts and estate disputes by doing your planning in advance, there might still be options to make headway when you’re facing a crisis.

Whether you or a loved one is looking at a serious health issue or other legal reason to do your estate planning, one of the first things to do is contact a lawyer. A lawyer can walk you through all the legal and possible options for planning your estate and getting your documents in order.

Here are some questions to ask when you contact a lawyer to walk through your crisis planning possibilities:

• Do we have any options to take action now? For example, if a loved one now has serious dementia and no planning has been done, it will be harder to create legally valid documents if this person is unable to speak for themselves. Any signatures they add to documents could be easily questioned in the future. However, if the person is in early stages of dementia and is still capable of understanding their surroundings, creating powers of attorney is possible.
• What’s at risk if we don’t take action now? When someone needs immediate help, such as a rush application for Medicaid, this should be pursued with utmost care.
• How soon can we realistically accomplish these goals, and what roadblocks do you see? Depending on your estate planning question or concern, it’s important to know how long it will take to get strategies or documents in place as well as some of the common challenges.

If you’re ready to start estate planning now to avoid having to do it in a crisis, or if you’re currently facing a crisis and need help, reach out to our estate planning law offices now.