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Some Ideas On How To Protect The Valuable Gift You Have Purchased For Your Family

Congratulations on protecting your loved ones, for buying a life insurance policy.

Your agent probably asked you who you wanted to receive the death benefit.  You probably said your spouse.  And if you spouse is not alive when you die?  Not an easy thing to think about,  but it could happen.  You would probably then want your children to get the death benefit.   But, will that work?

There is more to estate planning than deciding what happens to your money when you die.  Another important issue is deciding what happens if you are not able to make decisions about your assets or your physical well-being.

What if you are mentally incapacitated, such as being in a coma or having Alzheimer’s disease?  Who can make decisions for you, who would you want to make decisions for you?

In the first installment of this Planning For Disabilities article I discussed some legal issues you might want to consider to prepare for a time when you are mentally or physically incapacitated, and unable to take care of your financial assets.  I also looked at one of the most commonly used tools to allow one person to handle another person’s assets for them, the durable power of attorney.

How important is it to you that the estate that you leave to your children, also be available for your grandchildren (after your children are gone)?

What is a trust?

Very simply, a trust is an arrangement between three people; the TRUSTMAKER (sometimes called the ‘grantor’ or in old-language the ‘settlor’), the TRUSTEE, and the BENEFICIARY.  A trust is created when a trustmaker turns over property to a trustee, who holds it for a beneficiary.