Some people are under the impression that the government will step in and take care of everything if you fail to put an estate plan in place.
Many of these individuals intend to execute some type of strategy in the future. They are in no hurry because they feel as though there is a safety net. Is this a good idea?
Intestate Estate
If you were to die without any type of estate plan at all, the condition of intestacy would exist. Under these circumstances, the state would indeed intervene to provide supervision during the estate administration process.
The court would appoint a personal representative to act as the hands-on administrator. Creditors would be notified about your passing, and valid final debts would be paid from assets that comprise the estate.
Ultimately, the court would approve of the distribution of the assets, using the intestate succession laws of the state of Oklahoma.
Intestacy Drawbacks
That may sound neat and tidy, but your true wishes may not be carried out if you allow this to take place through your inaction.
For example, if you are married with living parents and you have no children, you may want your surviving spouse to inherit all of your property. In Oklahoma, your spouse would inherit all of the property jointly acquired during the marriage and one-third of the remaining property.
Your parents would be entitled to the rest under the intestate succession laws in our state. This is one example of the succession rules that may not be consistent with your wishes, and there are others.
Guardianship
Another thing to consider is the state’s potential role in your life if you were to become incapacitated as a senior citizen. You should be aware of the fact that a very significant percentage of people in their 80s become unable to make sound decisions on their own.
If you do nothing to prepare for incapacity, the state could be petitioned to appoint a guardian to manage your affairs, and you would become a ward. Most people would prefer to choose someone to act as their representative, but far too many people fail to take action when they can.
You do not have to be one of them. You could include an incapacity planning component within your estate plan. When it comes to financial decision-making, you could use a living trust to state your final wishes and name a disability trustee. A durable power of attorney for property could be added to empower someone to manage assets that you never conveyed into the trust.
Advance directives are part of this equation as well. You can name an agent to handle your financial decision-making through the execution of a durable power of attorney for health care. With a living will, you can state your wishes regarding the utilization of life-sustaining measures if you are ever in a terminal condition with no hope of recovery.
Attend an Educational Seminar!
We conduct seminars on an ongoing basis that cover the most important estate planning and elder care topics. You can learn a lot if you attend one of these sessions. There is no charge, so this is a great way to invest some spare time.
Visit this page to see the dates and obtain more information: Oklahoma City estate planning seminars. If you are in the Tulsa area, you can see the dates for that location here: Tulsa, OK estate planning events.
Need Help Now?
As you can see, if you roll the dice without an estate plan, unintended negative consequences can come about. Statistics show that most people are completely unprepared, and one of the reasons why they procrastinate is because they do not know where to begin.
This is understandable to some extent, but we are here to simplify the process for you.
You can schedule a consultation appointment at our OKC office right now if you give us a call at 405-843-6100. The number for the Tulsa location is 918-615-2700, and you can alternately use our contact form to send us a message.
