Estate planning is crucial for anyone, whether you’re young or old, sick or healthy, single or married. It’s especially important for LGBTQIA+ families to create estate plans due to their unique situations. Sometimes, circumstances exist that require extra planning to protect loved ones upon your death.
If you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community, you should follow the steps below while creating your estate plan with a Tampa will and trust lawyer to protect your future, assets, and surviving family members.
Create More than Just a Will
A last will and testament is crucial to ensure your assets stay protected and pass along to the individuals you want to receive them upon your death. Unfortunately, many people die without establishing a will. This often leaves their property sitting in limbo while surviving relatives fight over who should get what. Without designating beneficiaries, your child, dependent relative, or another individual could face challenges trying to access your assets.
Besides a will, you should also consider setting up a trust. Unfortunately, some families aren’t as accepting as others. When it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community, a parent, grandparent, or another relative could pursue a lawsuit during probate to try to ensure your chosen beneficiary doesn’t actually receive what you designated for them. By setting up a trust, you can transfer assets while you’re still alive and keep arrangements private from others. It won’t become a matter of public court record, which eliminates the possibility of estranged family members finding out about it and pursuing a case in court.
Determine Your Medical Needs
Same-sex couples often face obstacles when making medical decisions for each other. If one becomes incapacitated and can’t communicate their wishes, the other may not be authorized to make decisions on their behalf.
The good news is that creating documents allowing a partner or another member of your family to make important medical decisions could ensure you receive the care you want.
The most common documents used in estate planning regarding a person’s medical needs include:
- HIPAA – Sign a HIPAA form. This authorizes your medical providers to share your protected health information with specific people. The individuals you choose can access the records they need to communicate with your doctors.
- Medical power of attorney – A medical power of attorney (POA) allows your designated agent to make medical decisions on your behalf if your physician deems you unable to make your own decisions. Choosing a medical POA gives someone the ability to direct your doctors on treatments you would and wouldn’t want.
- Living will – Living wills can include a range of healthcare preferences so your doctors know your wishes if you’re in a coma or otherwise incapacitated. For example, you can indicate whether you want your medical team to take extraordinary measures to save your life.
Consider the Needs of Your Children
Same-sex couples may adopt or seek a donor so one partner can conceive a child. That means the other parent might not have legal rights to their own children. It’s critical to complete the adoption process for your children, especially if you’re not biologically related to them.
Adoption or other measures may be necessary to ensure that you pass down your inheritance to your chosen recipients. If you don’t take care of this vital step during estate planning, another family member could receive the assets you intended to pass to your children.
Bottom line: if you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community, it’s important to work with an experienced estate planning attorney. This will help ensure that your loved ones are taken care of, no matter what happens. Our Tampa will and trust attorneys are here to answer your questions and guide you through your options. To schedule a consultation, contact us at (813) 438-8503.