Estate Planning: A must for all physicians
Many people are driven by the understanding that estate planning only comes into play in the even of a death. On the contrary, if you or a loved one dies without an estate plan, the process will be a difficult one. As a physician, it is normal to update your estate plan every 5 to 7 years after major life events happen.
There are many aspects to estate planning, but there are a few significant areas that should be a point of focus.
- Incapacitation planning deals with decision-making regarding legal, financial and medical issues if one is unable to make decisions for oneself;
- Estate distribution planning concerns what happens to assets upon death; and
- Transfer tax planning addresses and plans for the various gift, estate and other taxes that may be triggered under state and federal law when transferring wealth during life or at death.
Further, there are several documents that are critical for estate planning that every physician should have in place.
- A living will is a written record of the type of medical care you would want in specific circumstances;
- A health care proxy is a document that names someone you trust as your proxy, or agent, to express your wishes and make health care decisions for you if you are unable to speak for yourself;
- An advance directive often refers to a combination of the living will and health care proxy documents; and
- Power of attorney is a document that names someone you trust as your agent to make property, financial and other legal decisions on your behalf.
If you are a physician, or anyone for that matter, and have not taken the necessary steps to plan and protect your estate, now is the time.
See Sanjeev Bhatia & David B. Mandell, Estate Planning: A must for all physicians, Healio, August 11, 2020.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.