Question 1

What does getting your affairs in order mean?

Accepted Answer

Getting your affairs in order means giving a person of your choosing the information and tools they need to handle your affairs when you are incapacitated – either through injury, illness or death. Creating Powers of Attorney for your health care and finances, as well as legal documents disposing of your assets such as a Last Will & Testament and/or a Trust, are part of a good estate plan. But getting your affairs in order also includes such things as gathering documents that will be needed after your death, deciding on your post mortem care, recording family history and stories, and deciding whom to notify of your passing and how.

Question 2

What is an advance directive?

Accepted Answer

This document (also known as a “Living Will”) specifies what medical interventions you do and do not want should life support be necessary to prolong your life.

Question 3

What is estate planning?

Accepted Answer

Everyone has an estate. Examples of what an estate consists of include an income stream, vehicles, one or more dwellings that are owned, items that have monetary value (such as guns, tools, vinyl albums, jewelry and furniture), insurance policies, bank accounts and intellectual property. Estate planning is making provisions for either closure or transfer of your assets and for handling your debts. It also includes creating the Powers of Attorney for your health care and finances, as well as legal documents disposing of your assets such as a Last Will & Testament and/or a Trust.

Question 4

Can my body become a tree once I die?

Accepted Answer

Cremated human remains can nourish a new tree by planting the remains in a biodegradable container with tree seeds and soil, or by burying the cremated remains directly in the soil underneath a sapling.  Because the nutrient value of cremated remains is questionable, best practices for tree growth must also be followed. Burial pods for intact human remains are in the developmental stage and are not currently available.

Question 5

Do I have to be embalmed?

Accepted Answer

With few exceptions, federal and state laws do not require a deceased body to be embalmed. However, funeral homes have the right to set their own rules, and most funeral homes do require embalming for any deceased person that will have a public viewing during the visitation or funeral.

Question 6

How do I donate my body to science?

Accepted Answer

Each state has an organization that screens and accepts “donor bodies” for their “willed body program.” You can sign up to donate your body to science by calling the “willed body program” department of that organization and filling out the appropriate forms. Donor bodies are in service approximately two years, and the cremated remains can be returned to the family if requested. There is no charge to donate your body to science or for the subsequent cremation, although there is a transportation fee from the point of death to the organization.

Question 7

Do I have to have a funeral?

Accepted Answer

No, there is no law requiring someone to have a funeral. “Direct burial” and “direct cremation” are two options for post mortem care that can by-pass a traditional funeral service. If a “remembrance service” is desired later, it can be conducted in a location and in a manner of the family’s choosing.

Question 8

Do I still need a Will if I have little money or possessions?

Accepted Answer

A Will is a convenient legal tool that disposes of a person’s assets after death, but it’s not the only way to do so. A person with little money or possessions can “self-direct” their assets through a Transfer on Death, Pay on Death or beneficiary designation, or through titling the asset to create a co-owner. Another way of handling a small estate is through filing a “small estate affidavit” with the probate court for estates less than $100,000.

Question 9

How can my unmarried partner inherit from me?

Accepted Answer

Creation of a Trust, bequeathing money in your Will, making your partner co-owner of your bank accounts, putting your partner on the deed to your properties as joint-owner with right of survivorship, and making your partner a beneficiary on your investments and life insurance policies are all ways your unmarried partner can inherit money and property from you.

Question 10

I’m young and healthy. Do I need an estate plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. There are documents you need throughout adulthood, regardless of your age or state of health. A Power of Attorney for Health Care and Durable Power of Attorney for Property allows a person you designate in advance to speak for you and conduct your financial business should you become incapacitated. An Advance Directive outlines whether or not you wish to go on life support if it is only to prolong your life and postpone your death. A Last Will and Testament makes provisions for the care of your minor children, dependent adult or pets if you have them. A Will or a Trust also directs that your assets to go to the people you want to receive them. Either you make these decisions yourself in a legal estate plan, or the rules governing your state will make these decisions for you at the end of your life.

Question 11

Can I leave my bank account open once I die?

Accepted Answer

If you are the sole owner of a bank account, once your bank receives notification that you are deceased, your bank account will be “frozen” and will no longer be accessible unless you have directed the account to a beneficiary recipient through a Pay on Death provision on the account. And if there is a joint owner, the account will become theirs. Otherwise, an “estate account” will be opened in a probate proceeding and the assets transferred into the new estate account.

Question 12

What if I don’t have an heir?

Accepted Answer

If you die intestate, meaning without a Will or Trust directing where your assets go, state laws determine who will receive your assets according to the “laws of intestacy.” If you are married, your spouse will inherit some – but not necessarily all – of your assets. Any children may inherit too. Or if you’re unmarried and have no children, then your nearest relatives will inherit. Without any “heirs-at-law” the state will receive your estate. But if you have an estate plan, you can leave your assets to whomever you wish by designating the inheritance you want them to have in your Will or Trust.

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