Welcome and Registration Please use your legal name as it appears on your license or government-issue ID
About You Your full legal name is required for your estate planning documents. This would be the name you are referred to on your driver’s license, social security card, passport or other federal government ID. Do not forget to add your full middle name if you have one.
Your Spouse Information Please use your legal name as it appears on your license or government-issue ID
Children and Beneficiaries If you have children under the age of 18 that you are planning to leave an inheritance to, you will be provided with the option to establish a testamentary trust to hold their inheritance while they are a minor. A testamentary trust is a trust created after your passing by the probate court. The trust is held for the benefit of your children until they reach a certain age. This allows for a trustee to manage a minor child’s inheritance until they reach a mature age.
Last Will & Testament: Beneficiaries When deciding who and how to leave your assets, please remember that we have assumed if you are married that you will leave 100% of your assets to your spouse first. This division of property listed on this page will only happen after both you and your spouse have passed away. A beneficiary may be an individual or a charity. If you chose to leave your assets to a charity, please provide the full legal name of the charity as well as the city and state of the charity (example: Columbus Humane located in Hilliard, Ohio). Please note that a beneficiary receives assets that are administered through your Last Will and Testament. Assets that have named beneficiaries on them will follow those private institutions guidelines rather than the distributions of your Last Will and Testament. Make sure you. take both into consideration.
Children When answering these questions, please answer the questions based on all your children including any legally adopted stepchildren. By setting up a trust for your child(ren), you will be able to appoint a trustee to manage your children’s inheritance. Your trustee will be responsible for investing, handling, and providing distributions to your child(ren) as they see fit. Once your child reaches an age that you predetermine, your child will then have full access to their inheritance. If you do not choose to set up a trust for your child, their inheritance will go to them outright, meaning they have full access and control once they reach the age that you predetermine, up to age 25. While a beneficiary under the age of 18 will automatically have a trust created for them at the time of your death, our office recommends setting up a standalone children’s trust today to protect your beneficiaries’ inheritance from having to go through the Probate process, having to pay high administration costs or risk losing their inheritance to your creditors or their creditors. Establishing a trust now also allows you to put specific rules in place on how and when your beneficiaries receive their inheritance.
Children Information Please provide the full legal name, date of birth, and parental status for each child and step-child. Please remember, if you are married, this estate planning tool will leave your estate to your spouse first. This division of property will only happen if your spouse predeceases you. Your Last Will and Testament outlines how your assets will be distributed after you pass away. If your Last Will and Testament controls who gets your stuff, that means your assets are going through the probate process. Any assets that have named beneficiaries will follow those instructions rather than your Last Will and Testament. It is important to consider both types of assets when deciding how your estate will be divided. If you do not intend to leave everything to your spouse first and then your children, you will need additional planning beyond the scope of this online estate planning tool, and we recommend you call our office at (919)-372-0060 for a Complimentary Discovery Call.
Permanent Guardians for Your Minor Children It is important to designate a Guardian for your minor child(ren). A Guardian is a person who can take custody of your child(ren) if something happens to you, and is responsible for the day to day needs of your minor child(ren). CAUTION: The surviving biological parent is typically favored by the courts to be named as guardian. If you choose to name someone other than the surviving biological parent as the first guardian the legal system may still grant custody to the surviving biological parent unless the surviving biological parent has relinquished their parental rights or has been legally deemed unfit to serve as parent/guardian. If you choose to have your Guardians serve jointly, your Guardians will have to make decisions together by majority decision. In choosing whether your Guardians should serve jointly, you should consider whether your Guardians would be able to get along and make decisions together, and if the living situation of your child would permit co-guardians. Co-guardianship is most common when naming a married couple to act as co-guardians of your child(ren). Naming co-guardians when the guardians do not live together can cause custody issues.
Temporary/Emergency Guardians In the event of an emergency, the Guardians you nominated to care for your minor child(ren) may not be immediately available, particularly if they live out of state or travel frequently. In order to reduce the risk of your children being placed with Child Protective Services in the event the permanent guardians are not immediately available, we recommend nominating 2-3 Temporary/Emergency Guardians that are authorized to immediately custody of your child(ren) until your permanent guardians arrive to take custody. Generally, we recommend that these be individuals that live within 30 minutes of your home and must be 18 years of age or older.
Children’s Trustee If your child(ren) is/are under the age of 18, they will legally not be able to manage any assets that you leave for them. In the event that you pass before your child(ren) turn 18 years old, anything you leave to that child can be held for them in a Testamentary Trust (established through your Will) for the benefit of your child(ren). You are able to choose who would manage the inheritance for your child(ren) until they turn 18 years old and can receive their inheritance outright. The person you put in charge of your child(ren)’s Trust is called a Trustee. If you choose to have multiple Trustees serve jointly, your Trustees will have to make decisions together by majority decision. In choosing whether your Trustees should serve jointly, you should consider whether your Trustees would be able to get along and make decisions together.
Spouse Trustee A Trustee is the person who manages the assets held in trust for your children. Your Spouse will be your default trustee. You can name an alternative trustee should you spouse or primary trustee not survive. The Executor is the person who administers the estate. Its common to have the same person be the Executor and Trustee. You can overwrite Primary Trustee.
Last Will & Testament: Naming Your Executor After your passing, your executor would work with the probate court to get your assets to your beneficiaries (if probate was necessary). consider naming someone who you believe is good with finances or who would be willing to get professional help to guide them so that they can make prudent and reasonable decisions.
Spouse/Partner - Last Will & Testament: Naming Your Executor After your passing, your executor would work with the probate court to get your assets to your beneficiaries (if probate was necessary). consider naming someone who you believe is good with finances or who would be willing to get professional help to guide them so that they can make prudent and reasonable decisions.
Financial Power of Attorney A Power of Attorney Agent is the person you name to step into your shoes to handle financial matters for you. Your Power of Attorney Agent will be able to act on your behalf immediately when you sign this document so be sure to name someone you trust. Although you are naming someone who can help you, it does not take any power away from you to manage your own affairs. Having this document in place now allows you to rest assured that someone is able to help in the event it was needed in the future. Your Power of Attorney Agent has the legal authority to carry out any power authorized in the document (basically anything you can do for yourself in regards to your finances, your agent will also be able to do on your behalf) without the need of court involvement. A Power of Attorney Agent can only act in their capacity as agent for you. When picking a Power of Attorney Agent, since this is a financial role, your analysis of who you should name is very similar to how you chose your Executor. In a way, they can be similar roles – the Power of Attorney Agent can only act on your behalf during your life and the Executor can only act when appointed by the Probate Court after your death. Because of this, it’s not uncommon to have the same helper serving in both roles. If you choose to have your agents serve jointly, your agents will have to make decisions together by majority decision. In choosing whether your agents should serve jointly, you should consider whether your agents would be able to get along and make decisions together. If you select that you would like your agents to serve jointly, all of your agents will be named as co-agents and will have the ability to act on your behalf in unison as well as independent of one another.
Spouse/Partner – Financial Power of Attorney A Power of Attorney Agent is the person you name to step into your shoes to handle financial matters for you. Your Power of Attorney Agent will be able to act on your behalf immediately when you sign this document so be sure to name someone you trust. Although you are naming someone who can help you, it does not take any power away from you to manage your own affairs. Having this document in place now allows you to rest assured that someone is able to help in the event it was needed in the future. Your Power of Attorney Agent has the legal authority to carry out any power authorized in the document (basically anything you can do for yourself in regards to your finances, your agent will also be able to do on your behalf) without the need of court involvement. A Power of Attorney Agent can only act in their capacity as agent for you. When picking a Power of Attorney Agent, since this is a financial role, your analysis of who you should name is very similar to how you chose your Executor. In a way, they can be similar roles – the Power of Attorney Agent can only act on your behalf during your life and the Executor can only act when appointed by the Probate Court after your death. Because of this, it’s not uncommon to have the same helper serving in both roles. If you choose to have your agents serve jointly, your agents will have to make decisions together by majority decision. In choosing whether your agents should serve jointly, you should consider whether your agents would be able to get along and make decisions together. If you select that you would like your agents to serve jointly, all of your agents will be named as co-agents and will have the ability to act on your behalf in unison as well as independent of one another. Previous
Health Care Power of Attorney A Health Care Power of Attorney Agent is the person that would be able to make decisions for you if you were ever unable to make Health Care decisions for yourself (whether you are in a car accident, are in a coma, or have cognitive impairment). Your Health Care Power of Attorney Agent will only be able to act when you are medically unable to make decisions for yourself. When picking a Health Care Power of Attorney Agent, you generally want to choose someone you trust, and someone you know will carry out your end of life wishes when that time comes.
Spouse/Partner – Health Care Power of Attorney A Health Care Power of Attorney Agent is the person that would be able to make decisions for you if you were ever unable to make Heath Care decisions for yourself (whether you are in a car accident, are in a coma, or have cognitive impairment). Your Health Care Power of Attorney Agent will only be able to act when you are medically unable to make decisions for yourself. When picking a Health Care Power of Attorney Agent, since this is a financial role, you generally want to choose someone you trust, and someone you know will carry out your end of life wishes when that time comes.
Living Will A Living Will (also known as the “pull the plug” document) allows you to put your wishes in writing stating how you would want your healthcare to be handled in the event you receive a terminal diagnosis or are in a permanent coma. This document allows you to tell your Health Care Power of Attorney Agent your wishes in the event that you are in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state and 2 physicians have stated you have no realistic hope of significant recovery. Having a Living Will takes the pressure off of your Health Care Power of Attorney Agent from having to make that decision for you without knowing what your wishes were.