A living will is a crucial part of estate planning in Missouri, but the primary purpose of a living will is to make your end-of-life healthcare preferences known. A living will does not keep your assets from going through probate. If you want to keep your property from going through probate, you must take additional steps, such as establishing a trust. A Lake of the Ozarks wills and trusts attorney can help you with this process and create a trust that meets your needs.
What Is a Living Will, and What Does It Do?
A living will explains your wishes for medical treatment if you can’t speak for yourself due to illness or injury. Your living will usually cover decisions about life support, feeding tubes, and other end-of-life choices. By spelling out your instructions ahead of time, you help loved ones and medical professionals know what you would want, which can reduce stress and confusion during difficult moments. Furthermore, doctors will abide by your specific directives in your living will, which gives you control over vital medical decisions even when you cannot communicate.
Avoiding Probate Through Estate Planning
Probate courts supervise the formal process of verifying someone’s will, administering their estate, and distributing their assets after their death. For the purposes of estate planning, what’s critical to know is that this process is public, time-consuming, and often expensive. Therefore, finding ways to avoid probate can help you pass on more of your estate to your beneficiaries while keeping your family’s affairs out of the public eye.
There are several estate planning tools you can use to help your beneficiaries avoid probate, including:
Living Trusts
Living trusts let you place assets like real estate, bank accounts, or personal property into a separate legal entity that someone else manages on behalf of the trust’s beneficiaries. After you die, the assets in the trust transfer directly to your chosen beneficiaries, bypassing probate. You also keep control and manage the trust while you’re alive.
Beneficiary Designations
Life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and certain financial instruments allow you to name a specific beneficiary. Upon death, the funds go straight to that individual. Regularly updating these documents helps ensure your wishes remain accurate and current.
Transfer-on-Death (TOD) or Payable-on-Death (POD) Accounts
Bank accounts and investment funds can be labeled with TOD or POD instructions. This setup allows you to designate who will receive the balance when you pass away, making the transfer automatic while avoiding court supervision.
Joint Ownership
With joint ownership with a right of survivorship, if one owner dies, the surviving owner automatically gains full rights to the property. This method of transferring assets can apply to real estate, vehicles, and bank accounts.
Gifts
Giving assets to loved ones during your lifetime can reduce your estate’s value and keep the gifted items or funds out of probate. By transferring ownership ahead of time, you make the process simpler and reduce legal hurdles and estate taxes for your beneficiaries.
Contact Our Lake of the Ozarks Estate Planning Attorneys for Legal Assistance
Our Columbia, MO, estate planning lawyers understand your wish to help your heirs avoid probate and have the tools to help you reach your goals. Call Martin & Birdsong, Attorneys at Law, now or complete our contact form for a consultation.