Author: Tiana Guzman

When we think of an estate plan, it often brings to mind much older individuals with a lot of money. But are these the only individuals who should be creating an estate plan? Not at all. Sure, the elderly and the rich should have an estate plan, but so too should all adults. If you are 18 years or older, here’s what you should know about the importance of having an estate plan. 

Estate Plans Don’t Only Plan for Your Death 

Of course, an estate plan can help to determine what will happen to your assets when you die, but it should also address things such as incapacity. Your estate plan documents should discuss what will happen should you require help or become incapacitated. That’s where an advance health care directive and durable power of attorney can make a huge impact. 

What Should You Know About an Advance Health Care Directive?

In the event that you become incapacitated, it’s important that you have someone whom you can trust to make medical decisions on your behalf. An Advance Health Care Directive permits you to choose an “agent” who will be in charge of speaking with your treating physicians and other medical professionals and making medical decisions for you. However, you don’t have to leave everything up to your agent. You can choose which medical decisions you want to be made for you within your directive. If you make these choices then the agent can use them to help guide what they do. 

What Should You Know About a Durable Power of Attorney?

Similar to an Advance Health Care Directive, a Durable Power of Attorney enables you to choose an agent to make financial decisions on your behalf. But whereas an Advance Health Care Directive is activated when a specific event occurs, such as your incapacitation, a Durable Power of Attorney is activated as soon as it’s signed. For instance, if you are on vacation in Mexico but end up hospitalized, your Durable Power of Attorney can pay your bills on your behalf.

Estate plans can prove beneficial for people as young as 18 and those who don’t have a lot of money. The associated documents empower people to choose what they want to happen in a variety of situations. These documents ensure that the individual’s wishes are respected and set up protections for them by allowing someone else to assist them in carrying out their needs should they ever require such help. 

Palumbo Law Helps Those in Rhode Island with Their Estate Plans

At Palumbo Law, our knowledgeable Rhode Island Estate Planning attorneys understand Rhode Island estate planning laws and will work strategically to help our clients uphold and protect their rights. If you are in need of a comprehensive estate plan or any associated documents, we can help. To learn more or to schedule a free consultation, call us today!

As our society continues to advance, just about everything has received a digital makeover. From grocery shopping to paying our bills, our daily tasks commonly transpire online. When we think about estate planning, we commonly forget about our digital life and assets. If you forget about your digital assets, you could be missing out on a huge part of your overall assets. That’s why you should remember to take all of your files, accounts, transactions, and other digital assets into consideration when creating your estate plan. 

What Constitutes a Digital Asset?

While “digital asset” sounds a bit vague, it’s really any online account or service that requires a login or security system to access. Your digital assets could therefore include things such as:

• Smartphone applications
• Social media accounts
• Cloud accounts/files
• Financial accounts
• Web domains

Keeping Your Digital Assets Organized

If you’ve ever tried to access an account and forgotten the password, then you probably understand just how many digital assets you have to remember. For this reason, it’s a smart idea to make a comprehensive list of all of your digital assets as well as your digital liabilities (e.g., automatic online payments).

Your list should include the name of the asset (or liability) and the URL (website) that is associated with it. For each asset (or liability) you should also include the full name that is associated with the account, your account numbers, usernames, passwords, security questions, and anything else that could be required to access the asset. The last thing you want to happen is for your loved ones to struggle or be unable to access your accounts after you’re gone.  

Once you have your list of digital assets, it’s important to select who you want to receive each one and what you want to happen to the asset. You can include this information in your will or trust. 

The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act

For a long time, executors of estates who lacked the information for relevant digital financial assets were unable to access them. Luckily, most states, including Rhode Island, have adopted a form of a federal law, The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.  The Act allows executors of an estate to gain access to the digital financial assets barring a will that says otherwise. The Act does not give executors the right to gain access to things such as social media accounts, text messages, and emails unless the decedent had expressly permitted the executor to do so. 

Palumbo Law Helps Those in Rhode Island with Their Estate Plans

At Palumbo Law, our knowledgeable Rhode Island Estate Planning attorneys understand Rhode Island estate planning laws and will work strategically to help our clients uphold and protect their rights. If you are in need of a comprehensive estate plan or any associated documents, we can help. To learn more or to schedule a free consultation, call us today!