Estate planning is a process that allows you to make specific legal, financial, and personal arrangements in the event of your death. In addition to outlining how you’d like your assets to be distributed, it can also include instructions about health care, end-of-life arrangements, and more. Here are a few essential components you should be sure to include in your estate plan.

What to Include in an Estate Plan

1. A Will

Some people mistakenly believe that if they do not have a significant amount of money or possessions to pass down, it’s not necessary to have will. However, a will does more than simply lay out what you are leaving to whom. It also allows you to establish guardianship for your children, name caretakers for your pets, state your cremation or burial wishes, and leave instructions for funeral arrangements.

2. Advance Health Care Directives

These estate planning documents leave instructions about how you’d like to be cared for should you become incapacitated due to an unexpected incident such as an accident or serious illness. There are two main components—a living will, which details what medical treatments you would or would not want performed to keep you alive, and a durable power of attorney for heath care, which appoints someone to make all necessary health care decisions for you when you are unable to.

3. Durable Financial Power of Attorney 

A durable financial power of attorney is another estate planning document that legally designates a person to make decisions on your behalf regarding your property and finances. In the unfortunate event that you end up in a coma, for example, a durable financial power of attorney would be able to handle essential financial tasks such as releasing funds for hospital bills, managing mortgage and insurance payments, and overseeing business finances.

For expert, step-by-step estate planning guidance from a team you can trust, contact the attorneys at Smith & Tabor Attorneys at Law in Toccoa, GA. For more than 30 years, they’ve been helping clients in Stephens, Habersham, Franklin, Rabun, and Hall counties outline their final wishes and create important documents such as advance health care directives and durable financial power of attorneys. Visit their website to learn more about their services, and call (706) 886-5141 to set up a consultation today.