What is Estate Planning? Why is it Important?

Estate planning consists not only of making arrangements for your assets, but also involves such methods as assigning powers of appointment and powers of attorney. Granting someone power of appointment entitles that person to decide how your assets will be divided. 

You may grant unrestricted access to the distribution of all your assets (this is referred to as the general power of appointment), or you can assign decision-making power for only certain assets (this is called the special power of appointment). You may also take help of an estate planning lawyer via http://www.voyantlegal.com/ogden-estate-planning-attorney.html.

Related image

Power of attorney entitles a person to make legal and/or medical decisions on your behalf when you are unable to do so. As with power of appointment, this person may be assigned power in only certain situations and in regards to specific matters, or they may be granted full power in any given situation or at any time.

As you can see, estate planning is every bit as relevant to your own life as it is to the lives of the people around you. Having an experienced estate lawyer in Houston to guide and inform you through the process will significantly impact how accurately your most critical interests are represented.

What You Need To Know About Elder Law

The legal needs of many older Americans go beyond basic legal services, and they're all interconnected. In addition to understanding the legal issues and complications that older Americans face, elder law attorneys must also understand the surrounding personal concerns of their clients, for example, health, financial, and family issues and how those affect their clients' legal issues.

The three main areas of focus for elder law attorneys include health care, estate and tax planning, and guardianship matters. You can also check out ogden elder law lawyer if you need a legal advice to fix your issue. 

More specific areas of expertise include:

1. End of life planning. This could extend to planning your health care support system as you age, setting power of attorney, establishing a living will, and other issues surrounding the end of life care.

2. Financial issues. This often covers retirement and financial planning, housing financing, income and estate tax planning, and gift tax issues.

3. Long term care. This could include planning for asset protection, insurance for in-home care or assistance with activities of daily living, Medicare planning, insurance, Veterans' benefits, and more.

4. Residents' rights issue. This could include any claims you bring while a patient in a nursing home or long-term care facility.

5. Workplace discrimination issues. Older Americans sometimes face age and disability discrimination in the workplace; an elder law attorney can help you plan and execute your case.

6. Guardianship issues. This might include guardianship avoidance, planning wills and trusts, planning for the future of special needs children, probate court, and other issues surrounding minor or adult children.