A parent should consider advising their teenage child who is now a new legal adult of their family about Estate Planning.
Better yet, a parent should take their son or daughter to their attorney’s office and have the estate planning lawyer prepare a number of basic documents such as a simple Trust or Last Will & Testament, a Durable Power of Attorney, a Healthcare Surrogate or Power of Attorney, and a Living Will (Advance Directive).
Actually, it will be a benefit to both the said adult child as well as parent because once a child reaches legal age, their parent will no longer be able to make decisions for the child’s health and finances (or even have access to their child’s healthcare or financial information) without the appropriate legal documents authorizing them to do so.
If one’s child becomes ill or injured and cannot handle their own financial affairs, a parent will not be able to step in and conduct business on their child’s behalf (e.g., sign checks, sell assets, access private school or medical information, etc.) unless their child has a trust or a durable power of attorney and has named their parent as successor trustee or agent. If not, the parents will have to go through the courts for a legal Guardianship, which will take time, cost significant money, and restrict them in ways they could never imagine. Some financial institutions and/or governmental agencies may not even accept a durable power of attorney or may also require their own forms; consequently, make sure the parent and the adult child check with each financial institution and/or governmental agency.
If one’s adult child cannot make his or her own healthcare decisions, it will be much easier for a parent to make them if the subject adult child has a healthcare power of attorney which names the parent as healthcare agent, surrogate, or proxy. Further, what if said child were to become seriously ill or injured in which he or she is placed on life support before the parent arrives at the hospital? Unless the child has made his or her wishes known through the proper legal document, the parent may not be able to have the equipment removed without court approval.
Finally, if one’s adult child were to die without a Last Will, the court will distribute the subject child’s assets according to the laws of the state (Intestacy or next of kin) in which the said child resided, regardless of what either of the child or their parents would have wanted or intended.
As time passes, make sure the new adult child understands that all these documents will need to be updated as the said child’s, as well as their parent’s, life changes such as when the child accumulates more assets, and as the child and their own loved ones move, marry, have children, divorce, and pass away.
Assisting and advising one’s children to begin with this responsibility now they become legal adults is an important task one has as a parent. It goes hand in hand with teaching them how to balance a checkbook, manage a credit card, and purchase insurance.
Chances are, it will be a long time before any of these documents will actually be needed. However, a Florida resident will be sending their adult child out of the family home and into the world with a full layer of protection, just in case.
The foregoing is a brief and general overview of what a Florida parent should recommend to their new adult child regarding Estate Planning.
If you have any additional Questions regarding the foregoing or have any legal issue or concern, please contact the law firm of CASERTA & SPIRITI in Miami Lakes, Florida.