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Protect Yourself With Estate Planning

By Patricia Annino, Chair, Estate Planning Department,
Prince Lobel Glovsky & Tye, LLP
& author of Women & Money: A Practical Guide to Estate Planning

You are in your fifties and at the top of your game--highly regarded in your field and extremely well compensated for your work, happily married to a wonderful man who is equally accomplished and financially rewarded for his talents. You are one half of what everyone considers a "power couple." You look younger than you are and have never felt better.

You are, in short, the poster lady for the modern American woman--ambitious, accomplished, empowered, and feeling very secure at the moment.

Unfortunately, you are not secure.

Your house is insured. Your jewelry is insured. Your vacation is insured. Your car is insured--but your future is not. That's because, like most American women, you have never taken the time to put an estate plan in place.

If something happens to you--an accident, a heart attack, a stroke--who will decide what kind of care you receive? Who will handle your finances? Who will get your house? Who will make life and death decisions for you if you are suddenly unable to make them for yourself?

If your husband suddenly becomes disabled, who will bear the financial responsibility for this around-the-clock care? Who will decide what kind of care he gets? Who will get the vacation property you share?

If there is no estate plan in place, the answers to all of those questions will come from a judge you have never met. The life you have spent so much time and care building is on a shakier foundation than you realize.

And you are not alone.

Less than one quarter of women in this country have involved themselves in putting together any sort of estate plan. Those who are unprotected fall into all income brackets, age groups and family sizes.

It's time to empower yourselves by protecting yourselves. Don't leave decisions about what happens to you and to those you love up to chance, or to judges and lawyers... or even your husbands, for that matter. Take control.

Estate Planning will enable you to:

Gain confidence in handling family financial matters and play an active role in decision-making.

Create future wealth through life insurance.

Understand your income sources--earnings, investments--and what they are dependent upon.

Focus on what you are spending currently and what your anticipated needs will be as you have to account for income replacement later.

Establish guardianship for your children.

Decide who is going to make health decisions if you cannot.

Decide who is going to handle your finances if you cannot.

Address succession issues if you own a family business.

Deal with long-term care issues.

Make sure you have enough to live on if something happens to your spouse.

Think through family strengths and weaknesses--who needs additional protection, who is a spendthrift, who is the most responsible.

Draw up prenuptual, postnuptual, or "living together" agreements.

Reflect on your life and value systems and think about what you want to impart to the next generation.

Estate planning is not just a plan for dying--it's a plan for living, a plan for understanding money issues and coping with the myriad of unexpected things that could happen to you or your family during your lifetime. Women have demonstrated their capabilities as business owners, wage earners and care givers, moneymakers and nurturers. It's time to take the final step and protect all the assets--monetary and human--we have worked so hard to get. Take the first step and interview an estate planning attorney to start or update your estate plan. If you don't already have an attorney, the best referral to one is through a friend or family member who has had a satisfied result. Your accountant, financial planner, life insurance professional or banker may also provide you with names. Referrals can be obtained through the Boston Estate Planning Council, Massachusetts Bar Association and Boston Bar Association.

Start Now!