ORLANDO, Fla. – Oct. 20-26 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week, a time to help people understand why estate planning is so vital.
What exactly is estate planning? It’s the process of organizing how your money, property and personal wishes will be handled both while you’re alive (if you become unable to make decisions) and after you die.
At its core, estate planning is about making sure your wishes are carried out and that the people and causes you care about are protected. Some of the key aspects of estate planning include wills, healthcare proxies, powers of attorney, beneficiary designations and in some cases, trusts.
[WATCH BELOW: Why Baby Boomers won’t budge]
CBS Business Analyst Jill Schlessinger spent a few minutes with us talking about the estate planning process. For television, we edited our conversation down to about 90 seconds but here on the web, we thought this topic was so important and Jill’s information so informative that we wanted to share her entire interview.
Here’s the transcript:
News 6: A recent study found only 1 in 4 Americans have a will. CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger is here to talk about what you need to do to get your estate in order. Jill, what are the most important documents we need to have?
Jill Schlessinger: Well, let’s talk about that. A will, because it is a legal document that ensures that your assets are passed on to whomever you want those assets to go to. They don’t have to be worth a lot in the world; they have to mean something to you, and you want your wishes known. So, remember, if you don’t have a will, your state of residence determines who should get what, and then the local probate court will take its time divvying up your estate according to a strange pre-set formula.
So, in the drafting process of a will, you’ll name an executor (that’s a person or an institution that oversees the distribution) and also during this process, if you have minor children, this is where you’ll name a guardian for them. I know this is where the process will break down many times trying to agree on somebody. You can always revisit the guardianship issue down the line.
News 6: Jill, in addition to the will, what else do we need?
Jill Schlessinger: I think there’s two other core documents. There’s a health care proxy that allows you to appoint someone to make a health care decision on your behalf if you can’t do so. And there’s also something called a durable power of attorney. This will allow you to appoint someone to act as your financial agent in a variety of different circumstances. Maybe it’s withdrawing money from a bank responding to a tax inquiry or making a trade in your investment account.
News 6: And how simple is this to do? Is this something you need a lawyer for, or is it something that can be done online?
Jill Schlessinger: It kind of depends. It’s been getting much easier and less expensive to do this process, but I just want to be clear that as long as you have a straightforward situation, sure, use an online service. Some of these services have small fees – some of them actually have lawyers to help guide you. Others are just software.
But if there are any complications, a second marriage, a family estrangement, maybe there’s a special needs family member, maybe you’re a partner or owner in a small business. I think that these are cases where using a qualified estate planning attorney really does make sense. And, you know, a lot of companies actually offer this as a benefit now. So maybe keep your eyes open during open enrollment. You might see legal services pop up and maybe you can defray the cost, that way.
News 6: Jill – sounds good, thank you so much.
You can see Jill regularly on CBS Mornings and the CBS Evening News. For more analysis, go to JillOnMoney.com.
[WATCH BELOW: Your next boss might be a bot]