8 Questions for the 8 Nights of Hanukkah

By Jenny Ling, Esq.

Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Light and is a time when many people gather with family.  In the spirit of the 8 nights of Hanukkah, here are 8 questions you can discuss with your family and loved ones, one for each night.

Do you have a Will?

Every estate plan includes a will.  A will determines who will manage your estate after you pass, where you want your possessions distributed, and if you have minor children, who will care for them.

Without a plan in place, Washington’s intestate successions laws will determine who is entitled to your property.  This means that the law, not you, will decide who will receive your assets.

Do you need a Trust?

A Trust is a method for transferring a person’s estate and enables a person to avoid probate.  A trust agreement sets out how a person’s assets are to be managed during their life and distributed upon their death.  After a person sets up a revocable living trust, they transfer assets to their trust, which they control.  Upon death, there is nothing for the courts to control because the trust owns the assets.  The trust is revocable, which means that during one’s lifetime, a person can change the terms of the trust or even terminate it.  The concept is simple, but this is what keeps you and your family out of the courts.

Not every person needs a trust.  An experienced estate planning attorney can help you determine if your estate planning goals and objectives require a trust.  There are a few special circumstances where a trust is the only way to protect your family:  if you want to leave assets to a child with special needs, if you have a family member who is addicted to drugs, if you own out-of-state property, or if you are at risk of owing estate taxes.

Who will make financial and healthcare decisions for you?

You need a plan not just for death but also for your potential incapacity.  Incapacity can be temporary – you are expected to recover eventually; or it can be the start of a long event that ends in your death.  Incapacity can last for many years and if you do not make a plan, your family may need to go to court to help make financial and health care decisions for you.

You should ask yourself, “If I am ever incapacitated and can’t make my own decisions, who do I want making decisions on my behalf”?  You will need powers of attorney for financial matters as well as health care decision making.

Have you made your wishes clear about end-of-life care?

It’s a tough thing to think about but what should your medical care look like if you are in a permanent vegetative state?  If you don’t tell your loved ones, they will have to make that decision for you.  A Healthcare Directive, sometimes called a living will, is a “will” for medical affairs.  It is a document that lets your doctor know the kind of life support treatment you would want in case of terminal illness or injury; in the event you cannot otherwise communicate your wishes.  Absent this document, healthcare providers will rely on family members to make end-of-life decisions for you.  Families are often haunted by having to make medical decisions without knowing their loved one’s wishes.  This document provides your loved ones with a road map for what you want your care to look like.

Do you need to update your beneficiary designations?

For certain assets (like retirement, life insurance, and bank accounts), a beneficiary designation could be used to leave the asset to a loved one.  However, it can be more complicated when the beneficiary is a minor or has special needs.  When you create a comprehensive plan with an estate planning attorney, you can ensure the assets are distributed according to your wishes.

Do you know who will care for your children if something happens to you?

If you don’t make a plan, and put it into a legally binding document, a judge will decide who will care for your children after you’re gone.  The judge won’t know you, your children, or your family.  This can cause drawn out and costly legal fights among your family, with your children in the middle of the battle.  Your children may also end up with a family member that you would never want caring for them.

A comprehensive estate plan makes a plan for your children as well as your assets.  At The Law Offices of Jenny Ling, PLLC, we offer a Child Protection Plan in all of our comprehensive estate plans for families with minor children.  A Child Protection Plan ensures that your children will be protected in both the short and long term and provides for their financial well-being if you are not around.  Our Child Protection Plan also helps you give guidance to your children’s guardians about your values and parenting style.  You can even make a list of people that you would like to be in your child’s life, even if you are not there to facilitate that relationship.

Will your family be able to find all your assets after you’re gone?

More than $58 billion is sitting in the departments of unclaimed property around the country here in the U.S.  Most of that got there when people did not know what to look for after their loved ones died and the assets were sent to the state to hold.  As part of our comprehensive estate plans, we help you create an Asset Inventory Spreadsheet so that your family knows exactly what assets you hold and nothing is lost to the Unclaimed Property Division at the Washington State Department of Revenue.

Have you spoken to your loved ones about estate planning?

You can use holiday and family gatherings to speak to your relatives and close friends about your wishes, should they be named in your estate plan. Similarly, if you have loved ones who need an estate plan, encourage them make a plan, ask if they have their affairs in order, and encourage them to think about these important issues. Unfortunately, when matters are put off, emergencies are created. At that point, a lot of time and resources can be spent trying to put affairs in order that could have been handled with much ease years prior.

As you gather with friends and family this holiday season, whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Solstice or even Festivus, consider these 8 questions to ensure that your family is taken care of, and that there is no question what your wishes are.  Contact Us to schedule your complimentary 15 minute phone consultation and ensure that your plan will work for your family when you need it most.  At The Law Offices of Jenny Ling, PLLC, with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, we focus on making a comprehensive estate plan to keep your family out of court and out of conflict.

Jenny Ling is a partner at the Law Offices of Jenny Ling, PLLC.  She focuses her practices on estate planning, business succession planning, business and bankruptcy.