3 Estate Planning Items to Consider Before Booking Your Next Vacay
Whether you’re planning your next trip to the Caribbean or a wine tasting trip in Prince Edward County, make sure that you have considered these three estate planning items before making your next reservation or AirBnB booking.
What can you do to protect yourself?
What would happen if you passed away while on vacation? How would you want your estate to be handled and by whom? I always recommend that my clients meet with me to discuss their estate planning needs and craft a custom plan to suit their individual needs prior to travel. DEVEAU LAW is experienced in accommodating tight travel schedules and working with simple and complex estates alike for planning. If for some reason you can’t meet with a lawyer prior to your trip, I would recommend that you at least leave a handwritten or Holographic Will that is completely valid and will govern the administration of your estate if you pass away while on your trip. This can protect your interests in the interim and allows you time to meet with a lawyer and estate planning expert upon your return to create a more detailed and custom estate plan tailored to your needs.
What would you had a medical episode or accident and were no longer capable to make decisions for yourself? This is where your Power of Attorney for Personal Care and Power of Attorney for Property documents are essential. Save yourself a ton of time, money and headache and make sure that you have these documents in place before travelling so that you have an agent who can act on your behalf if you become incapacitated while abroad.
What can you do to protect your children?
If you plan to travel with your children (but without the other legal guardian for the child) you may need to obtain a Travel Consent Form. DEVEAU LAW can prepare and meet with you to sign a Travel Consent Form that is accepted by outside jurisdictions to ensure that you and your children have safe and smooth travels.
If something happened to you while travelling, what would happen to your children in the event of your death or incapacity? Making a Last Will and Testament allows you to name, ahead of time, the person or persons who you would like to become responsible for the legal guardianship of your children. Make sure your children and their best interests are looked after according to your wishes.
What can you do to protect your assets?
Make a Last Will and Testament
You can name a person to act as the executor (or person in charge of administering) your estate and you can decide how the estate should be divided amongst your beneficiaries (or persons who inherit under your estate). Making a Will can also help you to ensure that your estate avoids the requirement for the appointment of an estate trustee (what was formerly known as probate) and/or minimizes the amount of estate administration (probate) taxes payable upon your death.
Name a Power of Attorney for Property and for Personal Care
As set out above, you can also name an agent to act on your behalf in respect of your personal property (including finances and bank accounts, real property, possessions, etc.) as your Power of Attorney for Property should you become mentally incapacitated during your travels. This can save a considerable amount of time, expense and headache for your loved ones, friends and family and can help to preserve assets by allowing your agent to act quickly and respond to any emergency.