The above audio is an excerpt from my January 2015 appearance on the Think Radio Program “In Legal Terms” which is part of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Network.
Estate Planning is “Catastrophe” Planning and planning for the time you are not living or not able to make your own financial, legal, or health-care decisions. It is not a question of your demise, but when you demise will take place. In your Estate Plan, you are essentially leaving your legacy and making your last statement to your family and loved ones.
Estate Planning is not just about what happens with your assets when you die, but also very important who will make financial, legal, and health-care decisions for you while you are living if you become incapacitated.
The structure of your Estate Plan, or the lack of an Estate Plan, leaves life-long impacts on the people you leave behind. Therefore, it is important to take the time to develop a solid, clear, and understandable Estate Plan. It is advisable to treat Estate Planning as a project such that you address the necessary issues and documents associated with “during life” planning and “at-death” planning, and then move on with living your life fully knowing that an Estate Plan exists for you.
