 How COVID-19 Helps You Prepare Now Getting The Healthcare Power of Attorney Protection For You and Your Family Now Step 1, Let’s Acknowledge The Situation What happens to you and your family when a health epidemic affects the entire world? Every country has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The global economy has vanished by a third. Each of us has been rocked in some shape or form in the wake of this unprecedented situation. The virus seems to trigger flu-like symptoms that more than 90% of cases result in healthy recovery. Thank goodness. It’s the slight percent of cases that don’t recover that seems so scary. What’s more? The speed of the spread feels even more frightening. What if it gets worse? We feel this global dread building. Feels Like Pandemonium  Fear. Uncertainty. Craziness. All around the world. Businesses forced to shut down? Governments mandating quarantine? Toilet paper sold out for miles in all directions? How’d we end up here? Crazy town, population the whole world! It feels like the world has gone bananas, practically overnight. That’s the bad news. The good news? “There’s nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Ray Dalio’s wise words now bring comfort. His reminder that we’re simply dealing with “another one of those.” (Ray Dalio’s Principles, #1 Amazon Business Book of The Year) Another one of those? That’s right. This is just another situation that has been solved by humanity before. We just need to trust that the brilliant minds leading us are finding the global solution. We trust the big picture is getting solved while we focus on our own, individual situations. Right now, it’s preparation time! How does COVID-19 help you prepare? How does this seemingly scary situation actually work to your advantage? Great questions! You’re about to find out... Mass Media Knows How To Get Your Attention It seems like an overload of “fear, panic, tragedy! Extra, extra! Read all about it!” That’s right, the secret of mainstream media’s lifeblood. We’re kept on the edge of their seats. Even more so in times of crisis. The more tuning in, the greater the profits. How does the mainstream mass media generally operate? Are they easing anxiety? Are they enhancing it? One things' for sure, it sure seems they have the public's attention! We're practically all on the edge of our seats with,,, what's the latest? What's happening? Now what?! Political Leaders Responding To Public Opinion Politicians - Can we trust ‘em? Do we even like ‘em? What is it they’re actually doing? One thing’s for certain. When the public gets roused, our political leaders get moving! COVID-19 now seems to be firing up our leaders to take massive and immediate action! Throughout history, mankind has created, devised, or discovered the perfect tools to meet whatever challenge it faces. With unprecedented access to information and resources, we can see mankind’s genius in a thousand ways before even rolling out of bed in the morning. How long will it be now before we develop the exact tools to contain this current global challenge? How long before the aftermath begins to reveal the myriad opportunities emerging from the “wreckage”? Like a phoenix rising from ashes, new growth always sprouts from the burnt debris of a smoldering forest. Maybe the mainstream media is fueling the blaze? And the political response seems swift and questionable with regard to civil liberties? So what if it seems the uncertainty and panic creates unbearable discomfort? We’re humans, damnit! Nothing stops us from doing what we do best! Living, loving, and laughing… and it goes without saying, surviving! How COVID-19 Helps You Now Now to the fun. Are you ready to get blasted with a dose of actionable insights? We’re Not Going Anywhere, Life Will Go On  Simply recognize what’s happening. It’s just “another one of those.” A global situation that scares us into taking the opportunity to take a step back and appreciate what matters. Will we adapt and survive? Absolutely! We’re human freakin’ beings, baby! So let’s start moving forward. Let’s sidestep the whole Chicken Little, sky falling down hysteria. What can you do now? First and foremost, PRAY! Appreciate the blessings you have in your life, right now. Send loving and compassionate thoughts and prayers out to the world. Bathe your family in warm thoughts. Most importantly, send yourself the loving kindness you deserve. Remember, what happens in the external world is always a direct reflection of what’s happening in our inner world. (See every religious text ever, the philosophies that withstood the test of time, and every single teacher in the personal development arena). Obviously, you’re reading this because you get what I’m throwing down. In every adversity, there’s always a seed of equivalent benefit. First and foremost, let’s agree that all “negatives” may only just be neutral. Events, situations, and circumstances that can be interpreted “negative” or “positive” in the eye of the beholder. For example, a lioness hunts down a gazelle. For the gazelle, not a great day. For the lioness, it’s dinnertime for her and the cubs! So what’s the positive in COVID-19 for you? What’s the hidden blessing that you can immediately take away? All About Connection, Baby First and foremost, now’s the opportunity to connect closer to how God shows up in your life. Giving your troubles to God is always the fastest way through any challenging situation. Dive into your favorite spiritual wisdom to feel your soul rejuvenated. Secondly, you now have the opportunity to connect deeper with yourself. Reflecting on what you are and who you choose to be. Check out your favorite personal development trainer to get yourself fired up! Thirdly, you now have the luxury to remember how much you love your family. To broaden your loving connection with those you hold most dear. Give hugs, say “I love you,” and show them how much you care. Step 2, Get Prepared After you connect deeper to the big three: God, yourself, your family, it’s time to start thinking about getting prepared. For starters, get your home situation locked down. That includes your physical environment, your financial position, and your estate protection. As the great Wallace Wattles reminds us, “to be great, one must first be great in one’s home.” (Wallace Wattles Classic Trilogy) So get your immediate needs stocked up: food staples, emergency water, toiletry supplies, and cash stores. For more advanced preparation, see your favorite disaster preparation guru. For your financial position, organize your money in the best way that gives you peace of mind. Dive into your favorite financial guru for strategies and tips to optimize your personal and family’s financial protection. In the past few weeks, the entire planet has seen nearly a third of its wealth vanish. The global economic impact is currently beyond fathomable. The ripples throughout history will be felt for months, years, perhaps even decades. Historically, economic depressions result in two certainties. One, the majority of the people, typically the middle class, see their net worths dramatically diminished. Two, the financially savvy make their fortunes. It’s a fact that more wealth and millionaires have been made in times of economic depression than times of prosperity. Who do you listen to for your home and financial preparation? Comment below to share the best sources of information at your disposal. Why not help your fellow readers? After all, we’re all in this together. Now is the best time for Estate Protection  Estate Protection is Family protection. Now we get to your estate protection. In our other articles, we’ve discussed what estate planning is, why it’s important, and what it takes to get the process started. Today, we focus on one specific part of your estate planning: your health care power of attorney. To find out more about what it is and why you need it, check out this article “What You Need To Know About Estate Planning” Why do you need to get your health care power of attorney set up now? Immediately and without delay? Because if heaven forbid, a health care disaster strikes! Maybe like it has the hundreds of thousands who’ve tested positive for COVID-19? The sad reality is, you can’t protect yourself from calamity AFTER it’s struck. Imagine if you could order auto insurance in the middle of a car crash? Or you could waterproof your basement in the midst of a torrential flood? Maybe if we had a magic wand at our disposal things would be different. In reality, protection works as a PREVENTATIVE measure. Not CURATIVE. The challenge of being alive today is that we are plugged into a society that seems to value cures over prevention. Generally, dire situations have to happen near you to prompt action. To get protected, you have to “go against the grain.” Take a page from the books of the Galileos, Edisons, and Ghandis of the world. Either that or follow the herd… right off a cliff. Don’t listen to what “they say.” Trust in the wisdom of inspirations like Napoleon Hill. Trust those who encourage you to recognize that “day by day, in every way, things are getting better and better.” (Napoleon Hill in his famous bestseller Think and Grow Rich, and The Law of Success From The 1925 Manuscript Lessons, the unwatered down tome of wisdom that Henry Ford pulled from the shelves after deeming it too powerful for the masses.) Bringing it back to you at this very moment, let’s talk about you and your family. Why does it matter to seek PREVENTION rather than a CURE when it comes to your estate planning? Get Sick? “It’ll Never Happen To Me...” It seems that being human means potentially falling into the trap of feeling like we’re superhuman. How can we shake ourselves of this common, age-old delusion? Let’s play a little game called imagine the worst. Let’s imagine the horrible scenario that you get sick TODAY. Not tomorrow, not next year, TODAY. You test positive for COVID-19. You’re delirious with fever. You can’t think or talk. The doctors do their best. And you die. Ouch. Painful to imagine, am I right? We’re playing worst case scenario, remember? Now imagine how your family feels? How will their lives change forever? When a loved one dies, the atrocious burden of the situation gets piled on to all the surrounding loved ones. A sad side-effect of an already emotionally intense time. Going through the recent loss in my own family, I speak from personal experience. With your estate planning in order, your family is covered. Without… let’s not go there. This nightmarish scenario is bad enough already. Let’s focus on a key element in this worst case scenario you may not have noticed. “The doctors do their best. And you die.” Why wasn’t your family involved in the decision making process to support the doctors doing their best? Because in the worst case scenario, you didn’t have your health care power of attorney. By not taking action, you’ve given up your power to direct your own medical affairs. Don’t Give Up Your Power Your health care power of attorney is the way you show the world that you are in charge of your own health care. It gives clear instructions for what you want and designates the loved one you trust to make decisions on your behalf, if necessary. Let’s say your health takes a turn for the calamitous. You’ve lost the ability to make your own decisions. Legally, you are considered “incapacitated.” What happens then? Got your health care power of attorney? You’re good. You don’t? Hail Mary time… Medical decisions affecting your life are now out of your hands. Most likely at the discretion of a well meaning hospital employee. Not your predetermined instructions. Not your spouse, not your children, but a stressed out, overworked and underpaid hospital employee. See the challenge here? Starting to get a sense as to the dangers of not having your health care power of attorney? Why lose out on breathing over a silly mistake of not getting your health care power of attorney in order? Why pass on to your family the burden of your premature passing simply because you didn’t do what was necessary to prevent any silly errors? Believe me, the nightmarish picture I’m painting is only a shadow of what happens all the time across our country. I can personally attest. A few short years ago, I experienced this nightmare first hand. I witnessed my grandmother choke on a piece of steak. A tasty morsel that stopped her breathing. Thankfully, those of us on the scene were able to clear her trachea enough so she could breath and stay alive. Shortly thereafter, she was rushed to the hospital. There, medical professionals determined the full blockage couldn’t be removed without surgery. On file at the hospital were my grandmother’s wishes to not be resuscitated, which meant according to hospital policy, no surgery. The hospital employee informed us that she would die within a few hours. My mother and I looked at each other in horror. WHAT?! First off, how is anything of that nature on file at some random hospital? Secondly, my grandma’s wishes to not be resuscitated applied to her being brain dead. NOT IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS! As always, God was working in mysterious ways. My grandmother’s other children weren’t there. Her other grandchildren weren’t there. God made sure it was me and my Mom who were on the scene. Have you guessed it? That’s right, I’m her estate planning attorney. And my Mom’s her health care power of attorney. We immediately told the hospital officials in no uncertain terms… DO WHAT IT TAKES SO SHE CAN BREATHE PROPERLY, YOU SONS OF #$%^&! RIGHT FREAKIN’ NOW! The surgery was a success, and she was breathing normally again shortly thereafter! Years later, she is still alive and well to this day. She is grateful to have had more time to spend with her children and grandchildren. As her grandson, I feel blessed for the extra years I’ve had with her. Imagine if my grandmother didn’t have her health care power of attorney already prepared? That well meaning hospital worker would have let her die. All according to “hospital policy.” Outrageous and insane, am I right? I share this personal story not for sympathy. I do so because it’s important to illustrate the very real danger of being without your health care power of attorney. I chose to be an estate planning lawyer to protect families like yours. I want you and your family to be safe, secure, and protected. If this story saves even ONE family from the nightmare that almost happened to mine, then the effort it took me to write and publish this article was worth it. Get Your Health Care Power Of Attorney  When you have your health care power of attorney, the horrors that could befall you and your family become instantly averted. The legal document sets forth crystal clear instructions for any and all situations that might become an unfortunate medical reality. Living in the age of enlightenment has countless perks. Not only do we have near magical access to information and resources, we have a legal system that has evolved over millennia! With your estate planning documents comes your health care power of attorney that brings your legal protection from the stone age into this modern age of marvels. Not having your technologically advanced estate planning protection would be like not having an automobile or access to the internet! Hard to imagine, am I right? Don’t ignore today’s modern marvels by not having your health care power of attorney set and in order! Choose Your Own Adventure Like the fun “choose your own adventure” books, you always have a choice. No matter what decision you face, you always have at least three paths before you.
COVID-19 is happening right now. Your life is happening right now. You have the opportunity to make a choice. Right now. Allow yourself to react in the whirlwind of the pandemonium? Panicking like Chicken Little afraid that the sky is falling? Delay in paralysis? Crossing your fingers the tidal wave misses you, or at least doesn’t hurt you and your family THAT much? Or say NO! Make a stand, respond, and say, “I WILL take responsibility for myself and family! I WILL respond with fervor! I commit to ACTION! I LOVE MY FAMILY, and I’ll do WHATEVER IT TAKES to keep them SAFE AND PROTECTED!” Whether it means preparing your home, your family, or your estate, what can be more important? Do you really want to lose what you hold most dear? Why even entertain the risk? If you’re reading this now, chances are you are getting serious about your estate planning. You’re also recognizing that things do seem a bit hairy with the world’s reaction to COVID-19. More importantly, if you made it this far into this article, you most likely care deeply about your family. You are the kind of person who will do what it takes to ensure their safety. When you’re ready to get things moving on your estate planning and your health care power of attorney, let’s chat. You get a free consultation after all. Why not take advantage? As the old adage goes, “if it’s free, I’ll take three!” Getting free expert advice… what’s the worst that can happen? You spend a few minutes to learn something that could make a profound difference for you and your family? Seriously, you made it this far. Unlike 95% of the people who started this article, you actually completed it. Why lose the momentum now? Why not take action right now? Is it worth the risk by waiting? Schedule your free consultation. Now’s the time to get you and your family protected. Additional Reading:
Getting Your Estate Plan Now: What To Expect? - Learn the steps on how to make the informed decisions to get the necessary protection for your family with your estate plan. 7 Benefits Of Estate Planning: Wills & Power of Attorney - Learn more about why estate planning helps you and your family. 5 Advantages A Living Trust Brings Every Family - Learn the meaning and the advantages that living trust can bring to your family. What You Need To Know About Estate Planning - Learn as to why you need to consider estate planning as a "must-have" in your life. Read more to know its importance and how it will help protect your family. Free Estate Planning Resources - enjoy these free resources to help you better understand the Estate Planning process.
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 Getting Your Estate Plan Now: What To Expect? You’ve decided that now is the time for you and your significant other to take the necessary steps to protect your family. You finally realize that every moment without your estate plan leaves your family vulnerable. You’re ready to take action now with whatever it takes to get your estate plan set up and operational. Where do you go from here? How do you get things moving? What does the estate planning process even entail? Great questions! This article walks you through what you need to know. After reading, you’ll know enough to make the informed decisions to get the necessary protection for your family with your estate plan. In this article, you will learn what it means to:
Finding the Right Estate Planning Lawyer First, congratulations! You’re already on the right path! By simply being here reading this article, you’re doing what it takes to inform yourself. By researching what’s involved with estate planning, you’ll get more comfortable with what it means and why it’s paramount to your family’s welfare. Learn more about estate planning and its benefits in this extensive article. I encourage you to keep researching and following the unfolding path of knowledge before you. The more you learn, the more you’ll know what you need. Plus, you’ll now discover a variety of estate planning lawyers who might be the exact expert you’re looking for. When you find an estate planning lawyer that seems like the right fit for you and your family, your next step is to schedule your free consultation. By meeting your potential lawyer, either in person or via video chat, you get the opportunity to look for two critical elements.
No to either question? It may be worthwhile to keep looking. Yes to both questions? You have a strong match! Keep the conversation going until you feel 100% comfortable with the estate planning lawyer and the estate planning process. I emphasize the importance of feeling absolutely comfortable and confident in the person and the process he or she shares. With any element of doubt, trust your instincts. Move on until you find the right match in a person and what he or she offers you. Curious to learn more about who I am? Scheduling Your Free Estate Planning Consultation Often, people express anxiety at the prospect of ‘free’ consultations. Perhaps the anxiety stems from the erroneous, limiting belief that “nothing’s free.” The mistaken idea held by many that “free” means hidden strings attached.Or maybe this “common” belief is really just a limiting belief? An idea unintentionally programmed into one’s subconscious mind? From an authoritative, fear-based comment heard in youth? Or perhaps from a past experience that left a bad taste in one’s mouth. For me, getting past this limiting belief that “nothing good comes free” stemmed from being on the wrong end of an aggressive salesperson. Being harassed with vampiric tactics that were highly pushing and pressuring. The result? Feeling awful and having an unhealthy limiting belief programmed into my subconscious mind.Ugh, can you relate? Leaves a bad taste in your mouth, right? I totally get it. The old “freebie” bait and switch tactic has been a go to favorite for snake oil salesmen for centuries. Possibly millennia.The challenge here is when we adopt the belief that every person offering free anything must be shady and have hidden motives. An agenda that hurts and takes from you rather than edifying and adding to you. For me, this limiting belief has hurt me way more than served me. The disempowering belief has blocked me from one great opportunity after another. By closing off our minds before even taking a discerning look at something, we prevent any new, valuable information that could, in truth, dramatically enhance the quality of our life.  “The best things in life are free.” - Coco Chanel Reflecting on Coco’s statement, we get a glimpse into its profound wisdom. The best things in life ARE free! What are some of the “best things” that come free? Immediately, my mental highlight reel explodes! Happiness, joy, fulfillment! Adventure, growth, achievement! Family, love, connection! And oh so much more! I begin to envision the glorious, majestic wonders of our Earth. All free natural blessings that we may enjoy. Warm sunshine, sprawling mountains, and expansive oceans are some of the most awe-inspiring, soul enriching elements on our magnificent planet! You feel me? Get what I’m throwing down? For you, take a moment to reflect on what you consider the best things in life that are free. What comes to mind? I want you to now imagine the joy you share when spending time with your amazing loved ones, especially your children, if you are so blessed with them in your life. Now feel in your body the waves of love flowing through you when reflecting on the profound connection with your significant other. It’s free to love, and absolutely free to enjoy that love. What on Earth trumps the love you feel for those dearest to you? Here’s another great example, take a moment to envision that moment when your favorite, home-cooked meal is placed before you. Now imagine that first, delicious bite. Feel the glorious sensations of scrumptious ecstasy as the flavors and textures combine into pure heaven. Your mouth simply explodes in pleasure. Mmmmmm. Salivating? Of course you are! It’s only natural. This fun exercise reminds us of the precious moments that are completely and absolutely free. The experiences that we often take for granted. Special moments to remember that make up the fulfilling joyful pleasures in our lives. Back to the point. Do you agree now that the best things in life are in fact free!? Now when it comes to looking for the best products and services to enhance your and your family’s quality of life. How do you determine whether a “free sample” or even a“free consultation” is actually worthy of your time and energy? That these freebies may indeed provide lasting value for you in some shape or form? I submit to you that the first step involves evaluating the source of information. Is this person, company, or brand trustworthy? Does this information come from a highly competent individual, company, or brand with proven, effective experience? Is this information being shared for a purpose to uplift and benefit? (As opposed to simply capturing your attention to manipulate you to take some disempowering action?) Like me, you likely recognize quickly when an information source isn’t authentic or serving in your best interest. Like me, you probably sniff out the shadier characters who may not have your best interest in mind. Like me, you want to only listen to trustworthy sources of information. Now, you may not yet know me personally. You may not yet know the exemplary character I commit to always embody. Let’s pretend that what you see is what you get, in terms of the caliber of the content I strive to share with you online and on social media. (Speaking of, make sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram for fresh, inspiring content delivered right to your newsfeed!). When you now trust in who I am, the experience I offer, and the prestigious legal minds on my team, you open yourself and your family to the value of what you deserve to receive. Too often within the legal industry, you find lawyers who are nothing more than aggressive money-grabbing, domineering, colossal egos. While perhaps that may be the right sort of personality to represent you if you find yourself in a messy legal battle, it’s not exactly the sort of person you want to share a coffee with, let alone the intimate details of your family legacy. When it comes to matters of family, you want a compassionate person you like and trust. You want the best expert for the subject matter. You want a person whose passion is to serve you and your family by giving their absolute best effort in the subject expertise you need. I will let you decide who to trust when it comes to the matter of your Estate Planning. When you choose me and my team, you know you will get the highest level of integrity and compassion in your service. Again, please take a few moments to peruse my social media, like my LinkedIn, to get a better sense as to who and what I am. Choosing the Right Estate Planning Lawyer What we’re discussing now is building your legacy. Protecting your family. Ensuring you get the ultimate peace of mind that comes from knowing you’ve done your absolute best for the ones you hold most dear. We’re not engaging in legal warfare. We’re not looking to righteously make someone pay for any reasons of justice. We’re building and protecting the foundation of your family’s future. We’re handling the delicate details of the life you’ve built to ensure the lasting legacy you have endures. Endures for your children, their children, and beyond. Your job as parents is to ensure the best possible life for your children. That means instilling high caliber values and building their character foundation. Your job is also to find the right experts to support you on your journey to give the absolute best to your darling loved ones. Whether that means finding the best coaches, educators, or in this case, legal experts to help you fortify your legal legacy. Now that you have a clearer sense of who I am and what I value when it comes to serving you, keep reading for the specifics of what you get when you schedule your free consultation with me, and how the process looks from estate planning consultation to your completed, fully funded trust.  Attorney Nick Costaras,Esq. Step 1: Your (Completely) Free Consultation Always first and foremost is to respect you and your family. That means your privacy, your time, and your best interests. Our consultation will be short, sweet, and highly productive. We’ll keep things fun and simple. We’ll stay focused and paint the exact picture that you need to know for you to make the best decision for your family. No gimmicks, tricks, or aggressive tactics here. Only compassionate and candid conversations. By the end of our conversation, you will know exactly what it takes to get your estate plan prepared and fully operational. You will understand the exact specifics for your particular family situation. You will have the knowledge necessary to decide the best course of action for you and your loved ones. Step 2: Clarifying Your Family’s Situation, Estate, And Needs Where are you right now? Our first step is to get clarity on exactly where you are right now. You and your family’s current position. You share with me who you and your family are, you and your family’s goals, and why now is the time to get your estate plan created for your family legacy. By discussing your exact situation, we both get a sense as to what exactly you need to accomplish your goals. From here, we get into the specifics of what you need. What do you need? When we are on the same page with you and your family’s current position, we now can get clear on your exact needs. We don’t want to waste any time or energy on anything except what’s most relevant to your situation. In this portion of our conversation, we get into the details of the legal options for you to consider for your estate plan. There are a myriad of legal strategies and techniques at my and my team’s disposal. We’ll discuss only those that matter for you and most align with your family’s best interests. By discussing your family’s exact needs and goals, you will have a clear sense of the best options to take you from vulnerable to full legacy protection.  Estate Planning What’s your best course of action? Finally, we discuss the action steps needed to get your full estate plan of legacy protection in place. We dive into the exact steps, in order of priority, of what you and I need to accomplish to achieve complete and total legacy protection for your family. Thankfully, the entire process is relatively straightforward. There will be a certain number of tasks to complete before your entire estate plan is prepared to a high level of quality. While my team and I will manage the lion’s share of work, there are certain sensitive decisions and tasks that only you and your family can make. Ready to get started now? If not, great! There will be no pressure to move forward immediately. You will at least know a significant amount more about the entire estate planning process. You will be free to continue your research to find the best possible estate planning attorney for you and your family. When you are ready to get the process started, terrific! We discuss the exact financial investment for your exact estate plan to serve your family’s needs. Like with all sound investments, your estate plan becomes an asset that serves you and your family for decades and beyond. In fact, your newly acquired estate plan asset may even serve as the legacy foundation that empowers your family for generations. When you decide to take action now, we sign an engagement letter to give you full transparency into what you and your family receive. You will understand the exact list of extensive services my team and I provide for you and your family. We will only move forward when you have full confidence in the process and exactly what you and your family receive with your total and complete estate plan. Step 3: Being Decisive and Taking Action Now! Now that we’ve committed to getting your estate plan created, we both begin taking massive and immediate action. We will both know exactly what the other is doing to get the process completed in a timely and efficient manner. Generally, you can anticipate having your estate plan completed within a month or so after getting started. After completed, anticipate a few additional weeks of follow up tasks to complete the funding process to make your trust “fully operational.” Yes, you and your family will have a few important responsibilities during this process. There will be sensitive decisions to consider and important phone calls to make. I promise that as we progress, you will begin to feel more and more comfortable with the process. While the entirety of the heavy lifting will now be taken care of on your behalf, the most important priorities remain with you and your family. Primarily, you will consider the important and sensitive decisions that directly affect your children and grandchildren. There will be important phone calls to make involving certain key financial elements of your estate. While your only responsibilities are merely the tip of the iceberg of your estate plan, you can rest assured that the bulk of the work is getting taken care of promptly, and most importantly, with the highest degree of care. You will have full transparency as to what exactly we are creating and doing on your behalf. Behind the scenes, my team and I will prepare the mountains of paperwork that comprise the technical legal documents that create your estate plan. With every crucial piece of the document puzzle prepared, your family will receive the highest degree of legacy protection in exact accordance with your wishes and goals. Step 4: Completing Your Estate Plan This step is the most fun! This stage is where we sign and notarize the documents that combine to make your estate plan! At this festive signing occasion, you will need two, disinterested witnesses and a notary who attest to the fact that you are signing these formal documents with a sound mind. A disinterested witness is simply anyone not named in your estate plan. That means someone not mentioned in your will, living trust, power of attorney, living will, or any of the documents that make up your estate plan. When each document is signed, witnessed, and notarized, your estate plan is official and good to go! To finalize your estate plan, we must now proceed to the last step, often called “funding your trust.”  Step 5: Funding Your Trust This last and final step is called “funding your trust,” because you must formally transfer your assets into the trust. By transferring your assets, this simply means changing the title and ownership of your property, accounts, real estate, businesses, etc. from your personal name to the name of your newly created trust, most commonly, your revocable living trust. For more information on living trusts, check out this in-depth article.  From a technical perspective, you as a person no longer own your assets. Rather, you as a person controls and owns the legal entity, your living trust, that owns and holds your assets. Simply stated, you no longer own any property or assets. You own the living trust that owns your property and assets. In reality, nothing changes. You still have complete ownership and control over your assets.. We’re simply playing the shell game in the best possible way under the United States legal system. As the saying goes … “Don’t hate the game. Learn to play the game… and win!” As a winner of the game, from a legal perspective, you gain the massive and spectacular benefits from having a newly formed estate plan. You receive tremendous liability protection, you avoid the insanity of probate, and you ensure your exact wishes for your family come to pass.  Sound silly and even a bit bizarre? Let’s thank the centuries of legal and policy evolution that has created the legal environment in which each of us Americans are opted-in. By being a United States citizen, you are required to follow the law -- or pay the price. Let’s not consider the horrors of what might ensue if we choose to ignore the law. A conversation for another day. Ultimately, does it really matter at the absurdity of this legal game? Or is what really matters that you receive the powerful result: complete legacy protection for you and your family! What matters most? Of course protecting your family! When your family’s legacy is secure, you can sleep better at night. At the end of the day, it’s about you and your family’s peace of mind. Next Steps From Here “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” One step at a time, we move forward with purpose until your estate plan is complete and your trust fully funded. Reading up through this point, congratulations! You now know what it takes to get your estate plan created! Knowing with certainty the process will give you the comfort in knowing what you need to do next. To recap what you’ve learned, you now know how to:
 Feeling more confident about this process? Having a clear and transparent look into your estate planning process, you now have the tools to make the best decision for you and your family. With the tools and knowledge now at your mental fingertips, it’s time to make a decision. You now know enough to start taking action. Do you love your children? Do you have assets? Do you want the absolute best for your family? Of course you do! When it comes to protecting your family, why wait? Why not schedule your free conversation to get your estate planning process started right now? You now know that my passion is to protect your family legacy. Let me do what I do best on you and your family’s behalf. Let me help you get the legal protection you and your family deserve. Do you see any reason now why you won’t move forward? Why wait? Schedule your free consultation right now. Getting Your Estate Plan Now: What To Expect?2/27/2020 0 Comments Getting Your Estate Plan Now: What To Expect? You’ve decided that now is the time for you and your significant other to take the necessary steps to protect your family. You finally realize that every moment without your estate plan leaves your family vulnerable. You’re ready to take action now with whatever it takes to get your estate plan set up and operational. Where do you go from here? How do you get things moving? What does the estate planning process even entail? Great questions! This article walks you through what you need to know. After reading, you’ll know enough to make the informed decisions to get the necessary protection for your family with your estate plan. In this article, you will learn what it means to:
Finding the Right Estate Planning Lawyer First, congratulations! You’re already on the right path! By simply being here reading this article, you’re doing what it takes to inform yourself. By researching what’s involved with estate planning, you’ll get more comfortable with what it means and why it’s paramount to your family’s welfare. Learn more about estate planning and its benefits in this extensive article. I encourage you to keep researching and following the unfolding path of knowledge before you. The more you learn, the more you’ll know what you need. Plus, you’ll now discover a variety of estate planning lawyers who might be the exact expert you’re looking for. When you find an estate planning lawyer that seems like the right fit for you and your family, your next step is to schedule your free consultation. By meeting your potential lawyer, either in person or via video chat, you get the opportunity to look for two critical elements.
No to either question? It may be worthwhile to keep looking. Yes to both questions? You have a strong match! Keep the conversation going until you feel 100% comfortable with the estate planning lawyer and the estate planning process. I emphasize the importance of feeling absolutely comfortable and confident in the person and the process he or she shares. With any element of doubt, trust your instincts. Move on until you find the right match in a person and what he or she offers you. Curious to learn more about who I am? Scheduling Your Free Estate Planning Consultation Often, people express anxiety at the prospect of ‘free’ consultations. Perhaps the anxiety stems from the erroneous, limiting belief that “nothing’s free.” The mistaken idea held by many that “free” means hidden strings attached.Or maybe this “common” belief is really just a limiting belief? An idea unintentionally programmed into one’s subconscious mind? From an authoritative, fear-based comment heard in youth? Or perhaps from a past experience that left a bad taste in one’s mouth. For me, getting past this limiting belief that “nothing good comes free” stemmed from being on the wrong end of an aggressive salesperson. Being harassed with vampiric tactics that were highly pushing and pressuring. The result? Feeling awful and having an unhealthy limiting belief programmed into my subconscious mind.Ugh, can you relate? Leaves a bad taste in your mouth, right? I totally get it. The old “freebie” bait and switch tactic has been a go to favorite for snake oil salesmen for centuries. Possibly millennia.The challenge here is when we adopt the belief that every person offering free anything must be shady and have hidden motives. An agenda that hurts and takes from you rather than edifying and adding to you. For me, this limiting belief has hurt me way more than served me. The disempowering belief has blocked me from one great opportunity after another. By closing off our minds before even taking a discerning look at something, we prevent any new, valuable information that could, in truth, dramatically enhance the quality of our life. “The best things in life are free.” - Coco Chanel Reflecting on Coco’s statement, we get a glimpse into its profound wisdom. The best things in life ARE free! What are some of the “best things” that come free? Immediately, my mental highlight reel explodes! Happiness, joy, fulfillment! Adventure, growth, achievement! Family, love, connection! And oh so much more! I begin to envision the glorious, majestic wonders of our Earth. All free natural blessings that we may enjoy. Warm sunshine, sprawling mountains, and expansive oceans are some of the most awe-inspiring, soul enriching elements on our magnificent planet! You feel me? Get what I’m throwing down? For you, take a moment to reflect on what you consider the best things in life that are free. What comes to mind? I want you to now imagine the joy you share when spending time with your amazing loved ones, especially your children, if you are so blessed with them in your life. Now feel in your body the waves of love flowing through you when reflecting on the profound connection with your significant other. It’s free to love, and absolutely free to enjoy that love. What on Earth trumps the love you feel for those dearest to you? Here’s another great example, take a moment to envision that moment when your favorite, home-cooked meal is placed before you. Now imagine that first, delicious bite. Feel the glorious sensations of scrumptious ecstasy as the flavors and textures combine into pure heaven. Your mouth simply explodes in pleasure. Mmmmmm. Salivating? Of course you are! It’s only natural. This fun exercise reminds us of the precious moments that are completely and absolutely free. The experiences that we often take for granted. Special moments to remember that make up the fulfilling joyful pleasures in our lives. Back to the point. Do you agree now that the best things in life are in fact free!? Now when it comes to looking for the best products and services to enhance your and your family’s quality of life. How do you determine whether a “free sample” or even a“free consultation” is actually worthy of your time and energy? That these freebies may indeed provide lasting value for you in some shape or form? I submit to you that the first step involves evaluating the source of information. Is this person, company, or brand trustworthy? Does this information come from a highly competent individual, company, or brand with proven, effective experience? Is this information being shared for a purpose to uplift and benefit? (As opposed to simply capturing your attention to manipulate you to take some disempowering action?) Like me, you likely recognize quickly when an information source isn’t authentic or serving in your best interest. Like me, you probably sniff out the shadier characters who may not have your best interest in mind. Like me, you want to only listen to trustworthy sources of information. Now, you may not yet know me personally. You may not yet know the exemplary character I commit to always embody. Let’s pretend that what you see is what you get, in terms of the caliber of the content I strive to share with you online and on social media. (Speaking of, make sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram for fresh, inspiring content delivered right to your newsfeed!). When you now trust in who I am, the experience I offer, and the prestigious legal minds on my team, you open yourself and your family to the value of what you deserve to receive. Too often within the legal industry, you find lawyers who are nothing more than aggressive money-grabbing, domineering, colossal egos. While perhaps that may be the right sort of personality to represent you if you find yourself in a messy legal battle, it’s not exactly the sort of person you want to share a coffee with, let alone the intimate details of your family legacy. When it comes to matters of family, you want a compassionate person you like and trust. You want the best expert for the subject matter. You want a person whose passion is to serve you and your family by giving their absolute best effort in the subject expertise you need. I will let you decide who to trust when it comes to the matter of your Estate Planning. When you choose me and my team, you know you will get the highest level of integrity and compassion in your service. Again, please take a few moments to peruse my social media, like my LinkedIn, to get a better sense as to who and what I am. Choosing the Right Estate Planning Lawyer What we’re discussing now is building your legacy. Protecting your family. Ensuring you get the ultimate peace of mind that comes from knowing you’ve done your absolute best for the ones you hold most dear. We’re not engaging in legal warfare. We’re not looking to righteously make someone pay for any reasons of justice. We’re building and protecting the foundation of your family’s future. We’re handling the delicate details of the life you’ve built to ensure the lasting legacy you have endures. Endures for your children, their children, and beyond. Your job as parents is to ensure the best possible life for your children. That means instilling high caliber values and building their character foundation. Your job is also to find the right experts to support you on your journey to give the absolute best to your darling loved ones. Whether that means finding the best coaches, educators, or in this case, legal experts to help you fortify your legal legacy. Now that you have a clearer sense of who I am and what I value when it comes to serving you, keep reading for the specifics of what you get when you schedule your free consultation with me, and how the process looks from estate planning consultation to your completed, fully funded trust. Attorney Nick Costaras,Esq. Step 1: Your (Completely) Free Consultation Always first and foremost is to respect you and your family. That means your privacy, your time, and your best interests. Our consultation will be short, sweet, and highly productive. We’ll keep things fun and simple. We’ll stay focused and paint the exact picture that you need to know for you to make the best decision for your family. No gimmicks, tricks, or aggressive tactics here. Only compassionate and candid conversations. By the end of our conversation, you will know exactly what it takes to get your estate plan prepared and fully operational. You will understand the exact specifics for your particular family situation. You will have the knowledge necessary to decide the best course of action for you and your loved ones. Step 2: Clarifying Your Family’s Situation, Estate, And Needs Where are you right now? Our first step is to get clarity on exactly where you are right now. You and your family’s current position. You share with me who you and your family are, you and your family’s goals, and why now is the time to get your estate plan created for your family legacy. By discussing your exact situation, we both get a sense as to what exactly you need to accomplish your goals. From here, we get into the specifics of what you need. What do you need? When we are on the same page with you and your family’s current position, we now can get clear on your exact needs. We don’t want to waste any time or energy on anything except what’s most relevant to your situation. In this portion of our conversation, we get into the details of the legal options for you to consider for your estate plan. There are a myriad of legal strategies and techniques at my and my team’s disposal. We’ll discuss only those that matter for you and most align with your family’s best interests. By discussing your family’s exact needs and goals, you will have a clear sense of the best options to take you from vulnerable to full legacy protection. Estate Planning What’s your best course of action? Finally, we discuss the action steps needed to get your full estate plan of legacy protection in place. We dive into the exact steps, in order of priority, of what you and I need to accomplish to achieve complete and total legacy protection for your family. Thankfully, the entire process is relatively straightforward. There will be a certain number of tasks to complete before your entire estate plan is prepared to a high level of quality. While my team and I will manage the lion’s share of work, there are certain sensitive decisions and tasks that only you and your family can make. Ready to get started now? If not, great! There will be no pressure to move forward immediately. You will at least know a significant amount more about the entire estate planning process. You will be free to continue your research to find the best possible estate planning attorney for you and your family. When you are ready to get the process started, terrific! We discuss the exact financial investment for your exact estate plan to serve your family’s needs. Like with all sound investments, your estate plan becomes an asset that serves you and your family for decades and beyond. In fact, your newly acquired estate plan asset may even serve as the legacy foundation that empowers your family for generations. When you decide to take action now, we sign an engagement letter to give you full transparency into what you and your family receive. You will understand the exact list of extensive services my team and I provide for you and your family. We will only move forward when you have full confidence in the process and exactly what you and your family receive with your total and complete estate plan. Step 3: Being Decisive and Taking Action Now! Now that we’ve committed to getting your estate plan created, we both begin taking massive and immediate action. We will both know exactly what the other is doing to get the process completed in a timely and efficient manner. Generally, you can anticipate having your estate plan completed within a month or so after getting started. After completed, anticipate a few additional weeks of follow up tasks to complete the funding process to make your trust “fully operational.” Yes, you and your family will have a few important responsibilities during this process. There will be sensitive decisions to consider and important phone calls to make. I promise that as we progress, you will begin to feel more and more comfortable with the process. While the entirety of the heavy lifting will now be taken care of on your behalf, the most important priorities remain with you and your family. Primarily, you will consider the important and sensitive decisions that directly affect your children and grandchildren. There will be important phone calls to make involving certain key financial elements of your estate. While your only responsibilities are merely the tip of the iceberg of your estate plan, you can rest assured that the bulk of the work is getting taken care of promptly, and most importantly, with the highest degree of care. You will have full transparency as to what exactly we are creating and doing on your behalf. Behind the scenes, my team and I will prepare the mountains of paperwork that comprise the technical legal documents that create your estate plan. With every crucial piece of the document puzzle prepared, your family will receive the highest degree of legacy protection in exact accordance with your wishes and goals. Step 4: Completing Your Estate Plan This step is the most fun! This stage is where we sign and notarize the documents that combine to make your estate plan! At this festive signing occasion, you will need two, disinterested witnesses and a notary who attest to the fact that you are signing these formal documents with a sound mind. A disinterested witness is simply anyone not named in your estate plan. That means someone not mentioned in your will, living trust, power of attorney, living will, or any of the documents that make up your estate plan. When each document is signed, witnessed, and notarized, your estate plan is official and good to go! To finalize your estate plan, we must now proceed to the last step, often called “funding your trust.” Step 5: Funding Your Trust This last and final step is called “funding your trust,” because you must formally transfer your assets into the trust. By transferring your assets, this simply means changing the title and ownership of your property, accounts, real estate, businesses, etc. from your personal name to the name of your newly created trust, most commonly, your revocable living trust. For more information on living trusts, check out this in-depth article. From a technical perspective, you as a person no longer own your assets. Rather, you as a person controls and owns the legal entity, your living trust, that owns and holds your assets. Simply stated, you no longer own any property or assets. You own the living trust that owns your property and assets. In reality, nothing changes. You still have complete ownership and control over your assets.. We’re simply playing the shell game in the best possible way under the United States legal system. As the saying goes … “Don’t hate the game. Learn to play the game… and win!” As a winner of the game, from a legal perspective, you gain the massive and spectacular benefits from having a newly formed estate plan. You receive tremendous liability protection, you avoid the insanity of probate, and you ensure your exact wishes for your family come to pass. Sound silly and even a bit bizarre? Let’s thank the centuries of legal and policy evolution that has created the legal environment in which each of us Americans are opted-in. By being a United States citizen, you are required to follow the law -- or pay the price. Let’s not consider the horrors of what might ensue if we choose to ignore the law. A conversation for another day. Ultimately, does it really matter at the absurdity of this legal game? Or is what really matters that you receive the powerful result: complete legacy protection for you and your family! What matters most? Of course protecting your family! When your family’s legacy is secure, you can sleep better at night. At the end of the day, it’s about you and your family’s peace of mind. Next Steps From Here “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” One step at a time, we move forward with purpose until your estate plan is complete and your trust fully funded. Reading up through this point, congratulations! You now know what it takes to get your estate plan created! Knowing with certainty the process will give you the comfort in knowing what you need to do next. To recap what you’ve learned, you now know how to:
Feeling more confident about this process? Having a clear and transparent look into your estate planning process, you now have the tools to make the best decision for you and your family. With the tools and knowledge now at your mental fingertips, it’s time to make a decision. You now know enough to start taking action. Do you love your children? Do you have assets? Do you want the absolute best for your family? Of course you do! When it comes to protecting your family, why wait? Why not schedule your free conversation to get your estate planning process started right now? You now know that my passion is to protect your family legacy. Let me do what I do best on you and your family’s behalf. Let me help you get the legal protection you and your family deserve. Do you see any reason now why you won’t move forward? Why wait? Schedule your free consultation right now. Additional Reading:
7 Benefits Of Estate Planning: Wills & Power of Attorney - Learn more about why estate planning helps you and your family. 5 Advantages A Living Trust Brings Every Family - Learn the meaning and the advantages that living trust can bring to your family. What You Need To Know About Estate Planning - Learn why you need to consider estate planning as a "must-have" in your life. Read more to know its importance and how it will help protect your family. Free Estate Planning Resources - enjoy these free resources to help you better understand the Estate Planning process.  What You Need To Know About Estate Planning Do you consider estate planning a must-have in your life? Do you agree that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?” Many of us agree that a “stitch in time saves nine,” and yet we end up “talking the talk without walking the walk.” Why is that? You probably love your family and want the absolute best for them. The question becomes, is your love strong enough to inspire you to take action now? To face the cold, hard truth that one day, you will pass from this Earth? To take steps to protect your family with the best possible estate plan? The biggest challenge for most of us? Facing our mortality. Coming to terms with the reality that there will come a time when we pass on from this world. Sadly, it often takes many decades of maturity, including witnessing other loved ones passing away for that fact to get through our thick skulls. Let’s pray and assume that you live to a ripe old age. Let’s pretend that, ignoring statistics, you don’t succumb to tragedy that takes you from this world too soon. Let’s imagine you come to terms with your mortality before any unexpected catastrophe such that you take the necessary actions to plan your estate and protect your family legacy. Otherwise, passing on unexpectedly without an estate plan leads to absolute devastation for your family. I speak from experience. My father unexpectedly left us at the youthful age of 64. Thankfully, he had a basic estate plan set up. Sadly, he never let me update his 24 year old estate planning documents. The result? Hundreds of hours of time-consuming effort from me and my immediate family, and hundreds of thousands of dollars vanished. Monies that would have gone to my mother to ensure she enjoys the quality of life she deserves. Eventually, we all come to terms with our mortality. For me, that day came as a complete surprise when the horrific call came in at 2:30am. It was my mother sobbing with the news that my father unexpectedly passed from this world. For me, the experience has strengthened my resolve to help families like yours. To do all I can to prevent the countless challenges that come to you and your family without the best estate plan in place. When the day comes that you recognize your mortality, you will know that you absolutely need to do whatever it takes to give your family the loving protection they deserve. You will know in your heart that it is an absolute must to show your love to your family, including doing what it takes to help them in the absolutely best way after your passing. This is where estate planning comes into play. Not just a luxury for the mega wealthy, estate planning is for everyone with a family, regardless of how much accumulated assets you may have to pass on. In today's world, most of us have comprehensive and complicated estates. The funny thing is? We don’t even realize it. Your estate represents a major part of your legacy. It includes your wishes for your family, your physical, tangible assets, your financial and real estate assets, your digital assets (email, social media, and every account you access via computer), and your favorite charitable causes. When is the time to set up your estate plan? Like most of us, you’re probably very busy. Yet, you know that life only gets busier as time passes. Sadly, when death comes, we pray we are ready. By being “too busy” to prepare for the eventual reality, we pass on an immense burden to our loved ones. What’s worse, with a weak or non-existent estate plan, the burden becomes absolutely devastating. Tremendously time-consuming and the financial costs become exorbitant. Trust me, I know from personal experience. For the rest of this article, I want to share with you the basic components of proper estate planning. Your Last Will and Testament This official document is the foundation of your estate planning, ensuring your assets do not go through probate court. Avoiding probate is an absolute must. We discuss more of the reasons why in this article. Your last will and testament serves legal notice that your wishes are set forth in your Living Trust, the private document that does the heavy lifting of your estate planning. Your Living Trust This official document creates the entity that offers the maximum protections under law. It keeps your information confidential and private. Otherwise, your entire estate would become public record through the probate process. It would also become vulnerable to any number of dangers that would result in the estate value diminishing drastically. Your living trust, also known as an inter vivos revocable trust, will set forth instructions for your family and your assets. For more details, enjoy this additional resource. Your Power of Attorney - Financial & Health Care These legal documents allow your estate to be managed properly when you’re unable to do so. Whether you’ve already passed on, become disabled, or are considered mentally incompetent, these documents give your trusted love one the ability to execute on your wishes. Without these documents, your family and your wishes will be blocked from making decisions on your behalf. The power of attorney documents are the legal method to ensure someone on your behalf follows your wishes. For more in depth explanations, you’ll find this article valuable. Choosing Your Estate Planning Lawyer Like with any service, there is a wide spectrum of quality when it comes to the professional providing the service. The question you must ask yourself, do you know, like, and trust the estate planning attorney who will help you? Are you confident that he or she is capable and experienced in creating the best protections afforded by law when it comes to your exact needs? Choose your estate planning lawyer wisely. By selecting the best expert for you and your family, you will have the greatest sense of peace of mind knowing that every detail has been taken care of. You will sleep better at night knowing that everything has been thought through, and most importantly, that your wishes will be followed. Be vigilant when it comes to the do-it-yourself estate planning options that exist today. You can find DIY options ranging from free to a few hundred bucks to a few thousand dollars. If you are a practicing attorney with estate planning training, then it may be something to consider to prepare the documents yourself. Otherwise, the unfortunate reality is that DIY solutions rarely work as intended. Attempting to save a few bucks will likely cost you hours of time now and hundreds of hours of time later. Not to mention the mega financial impact as a huge portion of your financial assets disappears before your loved ones’ eyes. Trust me when I say, your family is worth getting the process done right. You built a legacy to pass to your loved ones over a lifetime. Please consider doing the absolute best for those you hold most dear. Don’t make a mistake that devastates the future welfare of your family. Next Steps On Your Journey To Protecting Your Legacy? Already you’re on the right path. You’re reading this article as you research what you need to know when it comes to estate planning. I strongly suggest you continue your quest to educate yourself. Get as much knowledge as possible on what is involved with estate planning and who you want to entrust with preparing your documents. For more information, check out the free resources we offer on our free info page. You may also enjoy the additional articles we’ve published to help you understand the process. When you’re ready to talk about your family’s specifics, let’s schedule your free consultation. It’ll be my absolute pleasure to discuss the specifics for your family’s exact needs. Whether you decide to take action now to set up your estate plan or are simply looking to get more information, take advantage of your free consultation. Remember, life is precious and shorter than we can imagine. Family is everything. Nothing is more important than ensuring your loved ones have the best protection possible. Show your love by taking the steps necessary now to allow for your wishes for your family to come to fruition later. Contact me now for your free consultation. Additional Reading:
7 Benefits Of Estate Planning: Wills & Power of Attorney - Learn more about why estate planning helps you and your family. 5 Advantages A Living Trust Brings Every Family - Learn the meaning and the advantages that living trust can bring to your family. Free Estate Planning Resources - enjoy these free resources to help you better understand the Estate Planning process.  5 Advantages A Living Trust Brings Every Family Do you love your children? Do you want the absolute best for them, their children, and your future descendants? Of course you do! We all do! What happens to your family, your assets, and your wishes after you’re gone? If you do nothing, your assets are slashed by court fees and creditors. Your family fights over who gets what. Your minor children and pets end up by either whoever claims them in your family or they become custodians of the state. When you do something about it and set up your estate plan and living trust, you’re most protected. Your wishes are followed by and for your family and your assets are distributed exactly as you want. Like most Americans, we do NOT like the idea of the government choosing what happens to our personal lives. Especially not with our family or our property. Can you imagine letting the state raise your children? Let’s not even imagine what the state would do to your pets. What happens when you do set up your living trust? What exactly is a living trust? What are the advantages they bring? Continue reading to find out! What’s a Living Trust? The living trust is a highly popular estate planning tool. Why? Because it’s effective. Surprisingly, only 25% of Americans (including those of us in Cleveland, Ohio) are protected with living trusts as part of their estate planning. Thankfully, it is easy to get your living trust set up. Hire the right estate planning lawyer, tell him what you need, and let him take care of all of the details. A living trust (also called a revocable living trust) is a legal entity designed to privately hold your assets during your lifetime. Being revocable means that at any point in your life, you may modify or terminate any or all parts of your living trust. Among the myriad of legal, technical benefits, the living trust entity provides five tremendous advantages.
The Tremendous Advantages of a Living Trust: 1. Avoid Probate, Save Money Generally, the cost of probating an estate far exceeds the cost to set it up with a proper estate plan. What’s worse, a probated estate means setting your loved ones up for a long, intense struggle with the court, and possibly among themselves. Probate is a court-supervised procedure of dispersing a departed individual's estate. Depending upon the assets, in addition to the properties and people included, probate often ends as a prolonged and expensive process. Frequently, probate results in delayed asset distributions. By the time inheritances are distributed according to your state’s law, the diminished amount will shock your family. The court will take its fees, will make payments to unsecured creditors, and will distribute the assets in a way that triggers highly taxable events. Thankfully, you can easily prevent probate! All that’s required is setting up your estate plan with a living trust. The result? Who you choose to manage the process (your appointed trustee) will disperse the assets following your specific instructions. Your estate not only bypasses the probate process, it is promptly transferred to the hands of a trusted loved one or friend as an executor. Someone who will fight to protect your assets from excess taxable liabilities or unjust creditors. When you have your living trust, you set up your family for maximum success. You ensure distribution to your beneficiaries happens quickly and without unnecessary cost or risk. You also pay far less now than you would later if your estate were probated. If you have any property in another state, a living trust saves your family tremendously. The property simply transfers to who you designate. Otherwise, your family would have to travel to that state and be subject to the whims of that court, as well as the dictates of your local court. 2. Designate Inheritors A well-planned living trust lays out the strategy of your choosing when it comes to all of your property and assets. You set up your family to receive their inheritance in the exact way you see best. Your living trust also gives you the opportunity to instruct exactly what happens to your minor children and pets. Without the instructions of a living trust, both your minor children and pets become subject to a court’s decision. A stranger acts as a judge to interpret your state law with transferring custody of your loved ones. Do you really want to risk anyone besides you making decisions for your minor children, pets, and assets? 3. Liability Protection, Stop Creditors A living trust is a legal entity, which gives liability protection similar to that of a nonprofit and for-profit legal entities. This liability protection blocks potential lawsuits against your estate, which is especially helpful if you are in a profession that requires malpractice insurance, where a person can sue for malpractice years after the event. The liability protection also blocks potential creditors who salivate at the prospect of pouncing on the vulnerable estate. With the legal protection of your living trust, your designated trustee decides what creditor gets what, if anything. Otherwise, a court has no incentive to protect the estate. The court will not think twice in diminishing the estate upon the descendant of the predatory creditor onslaught. Often at the end of one’s life, medical care becomes necessary. Unfortunately, we live in a society where medical care comes far from cheap. The devastation becomes very real when unjust medical debt collectors swoop in to pick an estate dry. Living trusts also protect against in-fighting among inheritors. While not pleasant to consider, the reality is that when money is involved, things can get ugly. Why not prevent any possibility of any in-fighting? With a living trust, you ensure objections to your wishes of distribution don’t happen. 4. Privacy Protection Among the primary advantages of a trust is the avoidance of the probate procedure, which is public record. A living trust is a private legal document between the participants. It does not become part of the general public record. In short, you ensure your estate remains private. You prevent anyone from snooping into the details of your estate, which can be discovered with a simple web search. Not having any estate plan, every detail of your estate becomes complete public record. Surprisingly, even if you have a will (or a last will and testament), your entire estate becomes public record, too. The only way to ensure your private affairs stay private is with the use of the living trust, or other forms of legal trust entities. 5. Emergency Protection, In Case Of Incompetency Heaven forbid something happens to render you incompetent, disabled, or otherwise unable to make important decisions. If anything tragic were to happen, the person you designate as your beneficiary trustee intervenes to handle your obligations. Otherwise, there would be mountains of red tape to get the same access by going through the bureaucratic procedures of a court. Hence, you prevent a court-appointed conservatorship for your estate with a living trust. Now that you better understand what advantages come to you when you have your living trust as part of your estate plan. Are you ready to learn more? Why not schedule your free consultation right now? Why not get more information to better understand your situation? Attorney Nick Costaras, an estate planning lawyer, loves protecting families just like yours. With over 8 years of experience. he will draft for you the exact estate plan you need. You will have all of the necessary documents to give you the maximum protection under United States law. You will have the perfect last will and testament, living trust, power of attorney, health care directive, and more for you and your family’s exact needs. You worked hard for your family. You deserve to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have done what it takes to set them up for success after you’re gone. Once your estate plan is set, you can rest easily knowing that you have successfully protected your family from the very real legal and financial dangers of dying intestate. Schedule your free consultation now! We look forward to hearing from you. Additional Reading: 7 Benefits Of Estate Planning: Wills & Power of Attorney - learn more about why estate planning helps you and your family. Free Estate Planning Resources - enjoy these free resources to help you better understand the Estate Planning process.
 Do you really need a complete Estate Plan? Even Establishing a Power of Attorney? Is it really necessary to have an estate plan and power of attorney to protect your assets? 100% absolutely, at least, for the vast majority of Americans.
What are the benefits of preparing estate planning documents for you and your family? Why is it necessary for you to hire a legal expert who specializes in Estate Planning? Keep reading to discover the answers. Defining “Estate Plan” What is an estate plan and how does it work exactly? An Estate Plan is a set of official documents that provides legal protection for a person’s assets and clearly describes how the assets are to be distributed after they’re gone. The Principal Documents of the Estate Plan
Who needs an Estate Plan? American law applies to every American. You either fulfill the legal requirements in exchange for full protection, or you leave yourself exposed. Are you an American who wants to know the benefits of creating an estate plan? Generally speaking, an estate plan is for everyone. However, there are circumstances where getting an estate plan may not be high on your list of priorities. A person may not be ready for an estate plan if he or she currently:
Why should I get an Estate Plan? Avoid Probate Ever had a fun experience at the DMV? Imagine putting your family through something similar, only worse, as your estate is being handled. Most people employ the services of an estate planning attorney simply to avoid the nightmares of probate. You don’t need to understand what probate means to know that you don’t want your estate to end up there. The bottom line, going through probate means a judge decides how to distribute your estate, and that a huge chunk of your estate disappears in costs, taxes, and fees. It also means your loved ones may have to wait months, even years to receive their inheritance. Tax Reduction Nobody likes losing money, which is why you make changes to stop the leakage when you find out you’re losing money. There are great tax benefits to be enjoyed when your estate plan is in order and lots of estate planning techniques that can be employed to reduce income and estate taxes. Avoiding Complications Most people hire estate planning attorneys after witnessing the resultant mess occasioned by a relative passing on without a proper estate plan. By taking care of your estate, you automatically shield your loved ones from experiencing similar pain. To Protect your Beneficiaries People create estate plans for their beneficiaries for two major reasons: (a) to protect their children, and/or (b) to prevent young adult beneficiaries from making bad decisions, experiencing creditor problems, detrimental influences, and messy divorces. Each state in the United States has its own laws for the protection of minors. Without your Estate Plan in order, if something happens to you and your significant other, custody of your children will be decided by a judge interpreting the laws of your state. Do you really want to leave the decision on the raising of your precious children to a stranger interpreting laws that were set in stone decades ago? Assigning a trustee and guardian to your minor beneficiaries is part of your estate planning process. It will prevent costly (emotionally and financially) legal battles, family disagreements, and a myriad of other nightmares. Are your adult children having difficulties with life and money? Can you entrust them with your assets? If you don’t fully trust your adult children to handle their inheritance appropriately, you can make stipulations and guidelines in your estate to protect them. They will receive their inheritance under your continued guidance as your legacy endures. To Protect your Assets People are now hiring estate planning attorneys for asset planning protection, even those with existing estate plans. There are immense tax benefits and liability protections that you can enjoy when the proper entities are set up to hold your assets. It might be too late to organize a plan to safeguard your assets if you’re already the subject of a pending lawsuit. This is why you need to start by creating a good financial plan which can be added to an all-inclusive estate plan to protect your assets during your lifetime and after your death on behalf of your beneficiaries. Breaking Down Your Estate Plan
Centuries ago, people only used wills to pass on their estate to their heirs. Today, a will is only one piece of the puzzle. A revocable living trust is the next estate planning mechanism which can be combined with a will to give you full legal protection. A living trust is not just a way of avoiding probate, it offers special before and after death benefits. What is a Will? In its simplest terms, a will, or last will and testament, is a document that allows a person to assign his assets for inheritance after his death. A testator has the power to choose his heirs and determine what they receive. A will can also be used to name executors that will distribute the testator’s assets in the manner he or she deems fit. In addition, you may use a will to appoint a guardian for your child if the child is a minor. What is a Revocable Living Trust? A revocable living trust is a written agreement used to appoint a manager for your property. The fact that it is created in the lifetime of the creator is what makes it a living trust. The revocability gives you the power to dissolve or change it during your lifetime for whatever reason you decide. However, a living trust automatically becomes irrevocable upon the death of the creator. There are three parties to a trust: the creator, the trustee, and the beneficiaries. Generally, people appoint themselves as trustees to retain complete control of their assets during their lifetime. Being a trustee gives you the power to deal with your assets as you see fit- invest, sell, and do whatever you wish with your assets. How does living trust works and its difference from a will? The two legal instruments are used to pass on inheritance by giving instructions on how you wish your assets to be shared. A will can be used to declare that all your assets belong to your living trust and must be shared with probate. Your living trust is a private document that bypasses probate. In your living trust, you declare exactly how you want your assets are to be distributed. What happens if I don’t have a will or a living trust? Without either, you leave no valid and legally binding instructions for your estate. That means a probate judge will interpret your state’s laws to divide up your assets. Worst case scenario, the probate court gives your assets and estate to your state. Everything you have accumulated over your lifetime would be forfeit to the government. What are the benefits of a revocable living trust? Having a living trust means you can relax knowing that your loved ones will be fully protected when you’re gone. It also means your estate will be promptly distributed to your heirs. You can draft your trust in a way that transfers your assets to your beneficiaries upon your passing, or you can assign them to be portioned over a designated period of time in specific amounts. You can also eliminate or reduce certain federal and state taxes by including certain tax saving clauses in your draft. Who can be appointed a trustee? Any adult considered mentally competent can be named a trustee. Most people prefer to name themselves and their spouse as trustees. This allows you to remain in full control of your assets while you're alive. Your successor or co-trustee will take over if you become incapacitated and unable to manage the property. Most people name their children as their successor trustees. However, if you're not confident about the ability of your children to distribute the assets according to your instructions, you should consider naming a professional fiduciary as your successor trustee. This could be the trust department of a bank, a professional trust company or a private fiduciary. Will there be a need for additional cost or work when investments or property are added or deleted? No, there is no need to contact a lawyer for every change you make to your bequest or assets. Is it necessary for a living trust to be prepared by an attorney? Yes, to ensure that you get the protection you need. If your arm gets mangled, do you stitch yourself up and hope for the best? You could. Or you could see a medical professional. It’s the same when it comes to doing your own legal work. Don’t become another statistic horror story. Consult a professional for professional matters. Don’t fall for the temptation of using those generic or online kits that are often passed off as customized documents prepared by attorneys. Understanding Your Power of Attorney A power of attorney (POA) can be described as a legal document used to authorize another person to make legal, financial and business decisions on behalf of the maker of the instrument. The person appointed will help manage your affairs in the event that you’re unable to do so. In fact, your appointed person can pay bills on your behalf, help sell your car, renovate your home, make business decisions for you and lots more. However, if you fail to create a power of attorney, a court will have to determine your mental competence and appoint a guardian. A power of attorney gives you the power to decide who you want to manage your affairs. It also avoids unnecessary delays that come with the court process. All the states have their different forms for creating power of attorney. However, to be considered valid in most states, the document must be notarized and signed. Categories of POA Although powers of attorney are generally designed to give someone else the authority to make decisions on your behalf, they however come in different categories. Durable powers of attorney are those POAs that are applicable from their execution date. This means the recipient of the power of attorney can start managing your business once it is executed. Your competency or otherwise will not matter in this instance. While a springing power of attorney on the other hand, is one that does not go into effect after execution until the occurrence of certain events. A good example of this, is the incapacitation of the creator. The recipient of the power of attorney will not have access to your affairs until such a time when the donor becomes too incapacitated to do so. In practice, a document or letter from a physician must be obtained to kick start this particular power of attorney. You can also decide on the extent of the authority contained in the power of attorney. In some states, boxes are provided for you to check the particular type of authority you intend to give. For example, a financial power of attorney might give the recipient power to only manage financial transactions like payment of bills, and exempt them from transactions like selling your real estate. Hand In Hand The best thing to do is to create a will, living trust, and power of attorney. The living trust and will shall provide protection for your heirs and assigns after you’re gone while the power of attorney will provide protection in your lifetime. Combined, the three documents will provide all the protection you need for your assets. With a power of attorney, a last will and a living trust, you can rest easy knowing that your family is well-protected. Do it now! Why wait? Why risk it? Living Wills Unlike other types of wills, a living will is not used to assign property at death. A living will (also known as an advance directive or directive to physicians) is a document used by the maker to state his or her wishes for end-of-life medical care just in case they’re unable to make their decisions known. Its power ends with the death of the testator. A living will is usually included in your estate planning. It can provide valuable healthcare guidance for the family in the event that the testator is no longer able to pass his or her wishes across. It prevents a situation where family and healthcare professionals are forced to guess the preferred treatment options of the sick person. This could result in serious disputes which might even involve a court process. The form and execution of a living will Most states provide their own advance directives forms, through which residents can state their health care wishes in detail. For instance, you can state that you want palliative care, which includes the measures taken to decrease the pain and suffering of an invalid, while reiterating that you don’t want your healthcare givers to administer extraordinary measures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in certain situations. Living wills can be revoked at the instance of the testator. The document automatically takes effect from the moment it is signed or when it is confirmed that the testator is no longer able to communicate his or her healthcare wishes. However, doctors will rather rely on personal communication for as long as they can, regardless of whether or not the living will has taken effect. Healthcare Power of Attorney Most living wills are combined with a document known as durable power of attorney (DPOA) to handle healthcare. There are states that combine the two documents as one. A DPOA is used to appoint a person to enforce the end-of-life treatment wishes contained in a medical directive or living will. The person named therein is called the “healthcare proxy”, “attorney-in-fact” or “agent” of the maker of the DPOA. Living Wills Post Death The authority contained in a living will is automatically terminated the moment the testator dies. But there is one exception and it involves a situation where the power of attorney or living will provides directions to healthcare agents on what to do about autopsy or organ donation. However, this post death authority is only for a short while since these are decisions that must be made immediately after death. This is also different from the provisions of other types of will which does not take effect or become legally binding until the testator dies. What is the investment for setting up an estate plan? The price varies depending on where you live, the size of your estate, and its complexity. Trust Attorney Nicholas Costaras with a great quote customized to your specific situation. The real question is, if it were free, would you set up your estate plan? If yes, then you know you need to get your estate plan set up right now. You know that nothing is free, and you know that you do deserve the highest quality of service at a fair price. Getting an Estate Plan Why don’t you give yourself and your family peace of mind by making sure your estate is in good hands? Don’t put it off. Now is the time to invest in an estate plan for you and your family! Curious to explore additional resources? Educate yourself and get clear on exactly what you need for your family's estate plan. Book a Free Consultation We offer free consultations! If you decide not to go with us that’s fine. No harm, no foul. Why not schedule one right now? Contact me, Estate Planning Attorney Nick Costaras, for your free consultation now. Let’s get your Estate Plan taken care of! |
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