Retirement Legal Issues
Retiring or just retired? We call this your “Senior’s Handy Kit”.
We have prepared a list of legal documents you should prepare, in advance, to protect you from the inconvenience of going through them when contingencies like sudden illness or accidents happen. We believe that your retirement years should be spent leisurely and comfortably. Having worked all your life, it is not sinful to splurge a little on yourself.
The Elder Law in Australia provides protection for the elderly on various legal and financial issues that pertain to wills, trusts, estate planning, probate settlements, planning for Medicare and other related issues. We have identified them all, here.
Because we believe that growing old gracefully is more than a privilege, it is your right. We, as your mentors want to contribute to your full enjoyment of this right.
WHAT’S INSIDE YOUR “SENIOR’S HANDY KIT”?
Anything can happen to anyone…anytime. That is a fact we all live by. The best we can do is to make sure we have prepared to meet contingencies as they come to our lives.
A POWER OF ATTORNEY (POA) is a strong legal document which gives the person you trust all the legal rights, for which the POA is drawn, to act on your behalf. Most legal and financial advisors would recommend you drawing a POA in advance, otherwise, in the event that you become incapacitated, your family members need to ask the court to grant guardianship over your assets. The process is not only time-consuming, but expensive as well.
ONE REAL EXAMPLE
Have you heard about Terri Schiavo?
Terri’s life story became a global sensation when her feuding families (her parents and her husband) fought over her right to live. Terri’s husband earlier sought the court’s intervention to disconnect the artificial feeding equipment which had sustained Terri for a long time. Her parents fought her right to be artificially sustained by the feeding tube and be kept alive.
The court ruled in favor of Terri’s husband – the decision caught the attention of the global community. A family matter became a “worldwide circus”.
You can prevent this from happening to you if you draw a Power Of Attorney in advance to designate a member of your family to carry out your health preferences, including what you will decide on matters concerning life sustenance through artificial means.
A WILL or a TRUST?
Drawing up a will is deciding in advance who gets a share on your assets and how much. A probate settlement refers to a court-sanctioned distribution of assets based on the will.
A trusteeship on the other hand, determines how assets will be managed by the appointed person duly designated by the person who draws the trust, while she is still alive, and how the assets will be distributed upon her death. No probate settlement is required on properties held in trust.
A Word on Estate Planning :
Estate Planning does not refer solely on asset generation while you are living, but its protection and conservation, upon death.
This is where we can help you.
Our network of financial advisors can help you choose among options that are available today – for one, most reliable and credible insurance companies today have designed products to help you plan for the conservation of your estate, while you are living, as well as settlement of estate taxes in the future.
Keep It Really “Handy”
Now is the time to get organized. Your “Senior’s Kit” should carry all original documents of your Social Security and its number, your Medicare, birth certificates of every member of your family including death certificates of deceased members.
Maintain an address book for all contact telephone numbers – friends and relatives, financial advisors, lawyers and doctors.
Health preferences, funeral arrangements, wills and trusts, including marriage certificates, divorce notices, pre-nuptial agreements should be clearly marked on their specific folders.
Keys, land titles, stocks, bonds certificates, estate documents, life and health insurance policies should be properly labeled and placed inside their respective envelopes.
How to contact us for assistance:
You may contact us through our landline numbers, send us an electronic mail, text message or simply leave your message in our answering machine. We shall return your calls promptly.
