1. Protecting Your Loved Ones Assets in the Event of Incapacity or Death
Presented to the Brain Injury Association of South Carolina
2019 Life with Brain Injury Conference
Lisa Hostetler Brown

2. Comprehensive Estate Planning: What is it? Why is it needed?
A plan for your assets and healthcare both during your life and after death that anticipates many possible issues that could arise

3. Comprehensive Estate Planning:
What legal documents do you need?
Health Care Power of Attorney
Living Will
HIPAA Authorization
Trust
Financial Durable Power of Attorney
Will

4. Comprehensive Estate Planning:
Trusts
There are many types of trusts used for many different purposes, some examples:
Joint Revocable Trust for a married couple that wants to avoid probate at each of their deaths and pass assets easily to adult children
Irrevocable Trust for a 67 year old with no long term care insurance who wants to protect assets from Medicaid
Supplemental Needs Trust for an adult child who receives government benefits so he doesn’t lose his inheritance

5. Comprehensive Estate Planning:
Covering the Assets
It’s not enough to get your estate planning documents executed, your assets have to properly FUND your plan
We use an ASSET TITLING SHEET to instruct how each asset should be titled, including any beneficiary designations
*A properly FUNDED plan avoids the need for probate and the associated costs and hassle

6. Comprehensive Estate Planning:
What about the will?
Contrary to common understanding, many times it is better to set up the estate plan so the will is only a “back up” and is never actually used.

7. Comprehensive Estate Planning:
Choosing your agents
When selecting agents, select those who you think will make the decisions you would want them to make if you were able to.
Fiduciaries should be financially responsible and trust-worthy.
If you are caring for someone with special needs, make sure the guardian/trustee you select for them will be able
to assist for as long as needed.

8. Probate: What is it?
A person can die with both probate and non-probate assets.
Probate assets must be administered and distributed through county probate.
Non-probate assets pass outside of probate and are distributed directly to named beneficiaries.

9. Probate: With a will or not
If a person has probate assets, their will generally directs how those assets are distributed
If there is a will, it controls, subject to the approval of the probate court
If there is no will, the state of South Carolina has a default plan in place, called intestacy.

10. Probate: Creditors
Creditors get a chance to make claims against an estate once a Personal Representative has been appointed

11. Why Plan? Overall lower expense Avoid creditors
Maintain government benefits
Family relationships preserved
Eliminate Court requirements for notice
Eliminate multiple probate administrations
Cut out unwanted heirs
Name proposed guardians
Choose your own agents
Deal with potential sticky situations beforehand

12. LawyerLisa

13. More Information at:
LawyerLisa.com