9 Types of Estate Plan Updates You May Need after a Diagnosis. After being diagnosed with a chronic or terminal illness, you may feel overwhelmed at the thought of reviewing and updating your existing Orange County estate plan. Fortunately, an experienced Anaheim estate attorney can help walk you through this process to ensure that your documents are in order. Knowing that you have proper provisions in place in the event of your disability, incapacity, or death will hopefully bring you peace of mind and allow you to focus on your loved ones and your health.
What types of modifications might you need to an estate plan after receiving a poor medical diagnosis? The following are several examples:
- Carefully review the terms of your will to be sure that you have named the executor and guardian that you want to serve in this role.
- Make changes as to who are the beneficiaries of your estate if you desire.
- Add any desired gifts to charity to your will or trust.
- Update your Advance Health Care Directive and Power of Attorney for Health Care.
- Execute a new Durable Power of Attorney if your original is not recent.
- Amend or restate your revocable trust to reflect any changes, such as adding or removing trustees, changing the manner for distribution of the assets, or adding provisions to help reduce estate or other taxes.
- Re-title your assets to the name of your trust, as advised by your Anaheim estate planning lawyer. She will help you to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis.
- Review and update your beneficiary designations for assets such as retirement accounts and life insurance policies.
- Discuss with your Orange County lawyer whether your plan should be modified as it relates to Medi-Cal and Medicaid planning in California.
9 Types of Estate Plan Updates You May Need after a Diagnosis. To understand more about what types of issues you should be thinking about when modifying an estate plan, view our free pamphlet, The Ten Things You Must Know Before Creating (or Amending) Your Will or Trust. Our office of experienced Anaheim estate planning attorneys can help guide you through this process. Call our office today at (714) 282-7488 for a consultation.