Secrets of a Living Will, Last Will and Living Trust 2018

Secrets of Life: We believe this is a wonderful time of year to make a certain visit to your attorney.  And you can discover some of the secrets of what we delicately call “Estate Planning.”  Contrary to popular belief, this is not a law visit that is just meant for the Kardashians.  Principal Law believes everyone needs to put their legal affairs in order.  And they need to do so before they face final illness scenarios.  Or before they facts of life as revealed in the horrific moments of accidents.

As we said in our previous blog, spring brings us a celebration of renewal in nature and beauty.  Our winter-dulled senses are awakened.  And we are more aware of the joy in this world, in our lives and in our families.  That blog was our tribute to the cycle of seasons and the Disney concept of the “Circle of Life.”  Now, it is time to get back to work.  The greeting has been written and the initial moment has been enjoyed.

The Secrets Behind the Circle of Life:  Making An Appointment To Set up Your Last Wishes

Poor, Middle Class, or Wealthy, it’s important to have a protocol set up for your loved ones.  Again, we urge you to pick one of these lovely spring days for your appointment.  We know your objections and excuses:

1. “My husband won’t talk about death.”
2. “My wife won’t have the talk.  She just shuts down.”
3. “We are both young and healthy.  Besides, we don’t own anything of value.”
4. “We trust everyone in our family to know when to pull the plug.”

Step Out of Secrets and Shadows, Into the Clear, Crisp Sunshine of the Law

As is obvious from the above excuses, sometimes we of Principal Law must educate clients.  We understand that many people believe that a Living Will, a Last Will and Testament, and a Living Trust are all the same document.  These are completely different documents with different purposes.

So attorney Shivon Patel has designed some specific definitions for our readers, and we will spend some of the coming blogs explaining the important differences between these documents.

I. Florida Law and Your Living Will:  Your Final Wishes Concerning Medical Treatment

The Living Will has nothing to do with your property.  Think of it as a document concerning your choices in medical treatment.  The best way to understand the intention of a Living Will is to read it.

In Florida, the main content of the suggested Statutory Form for Living Will is printed below.  ( Just for space, we have omitted the signing pages but they would be below the text. But we wanted to make sure you simply read this part of it.

We wanted you to look at it.  And we want you to see it is a document about medical procedures.  It is about you.  It is about your health and the procedures you will allow if there is no chance for you to get well.

Remember, it simply is not about your property, your treasure, or your legacy.

Florida Law states that “a Living Will may, but need not be expressed” in the exact following format.  You will see other types of phrasing.  But the nature of the document is here.  Again, keep in mind this document expresses your desires if you are terminally incapacitated by accident or disease:

There are No Secrets:  Suggested Format of a Living Will

 

Declaration made this   day of  ___   (year), I, willfully and voluntarily make known my desire that my dying not be artificially prolonged under the circumstances set forth below. And I do hereby declare that if at any time I am incapacitated: and

 (initial)   I have a terminal condition

or   (initial)   I have an end-stage condition

or   (initial)   I am in a persistent vegetative state

and if my primary physician and another consulting physician have determined that there is no reasonable medical probability of my recovery from such condition, I direct that life-prolonging procedures be withheld or withdrawn when the application of such procedures would serve only to prolong artificially the process of dying, and that I be permitted to die naturally with only the administration of medication or the performance of any medical procedure deemed necessary to provide me with comfort care or to alleviate pain.

Expression of Personal Rights

It is my intention that this declaration be honored by my family and physician as the final expression of my legal right to refuse medical or surgical treatment and to accept the consequences for such refusal.

In the event that I have been determined to be unable to provide express and informed consent regarding the withholding, withdrawal, or continuation of life-prolonging procedures, I wish to designate, as my surrogate to carry out the provisions of this declaration:

1. It concerns the medical procedures you endorse.  If a severe illness or accident incapacitates you, this document explains the steps you will allow medical personnel to enact in order to prolong your life.
2. Point of Law: This paper must be signed by 2 witnesses.  And one of them cannot be related to you by blood or marriage.

II. Florida Law and Your Living Trust:  Some of Your Final Wishes Concerning Property, Pre-arranged Before Your Death

For pre-arrangements regarding your property or treasure, you can express your wishes in the document called the Living Trust.  This document, the “inter vivos trust,” is prepared during your lifetime.  It is only similar to a Last Will and Testament in that it deals with property.

The Wonderful Secret of a Living Trust

However, in a Living Trust, the property is transferred to the trustee before your death.  Thus a Living Trust is not considered part of your estate when you die.  The beauty of this document is that your heirs avoid the complexity and taxes of Probate Court on the included assets.  This includes such items as real estate, investments and bank accounts.

A Few Points about a Living Trust.

We will be going into more details about trusts and wills in future blogs.  For today, and for your understanding of a definition, consider this.

• Perhaps all of your property would be within the Trust.   If you sign a “Revocable” trust.  That means you can modify or terminate the trust as long as you are “of sound mind.  “We will be blogging about this document very soon.
• With a Living Trust, if you become incapacitated, your trustee can protect your trust property.  Next week, we will illustrate this concept with “A Very Simple Case Study Example.”

For now, what we want to explain is that the common confusion regarding the Living Will and the Living Trust.  This is one small example of your need for an experienced, professional estate planning attorney.

Have the Inevitable Conversation

Visit with Shivon to Learn About Your Last Will and Testament, Your Revocable Living Trust and your Living Will.

She can help you make decisions about the trust, trustees, and taxes.  As an estate attorney, she has made it her personal mission to help people like you craft the best possible overall estate plan.

In the next weeks, Shivon Patel will be using this blog to further acquaint you with the legal vocabulary regarding the final Circle of Life.

And remember, every state is different.  So in the blogs to come, we will delve deeply into some of the finer points of our unique Florida law.  We will especially look at those, regarding Wills and Trusts.  Thank you for reading the blog at Principal Lawl.  And we hope you will return again soon to discover your rights and responsibilities under the law.

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