What will happen to my money when I die?
If I'm involved in a serious accident, what will happen to me?
Will my family be burdened with paying my funeral costs?
Will my family be burdened with paying my funeral costs?
What will my legacy be?
Have you planned for your death?
Have you planned for your death?
I have, and here's what I did:
"It's not about me. It's not about you. It's not even about us.
It's about legacy. It's about what we choose to leave behind for future generations."
Well-said, Mr. Stark!
I may not be doing anything as awesome as building a flying metal suit of armor powered by an exotic self-sustaining power source, but I can still establish a legacy. I can still plan to leave something behind for future generations.
To leave the decisions to some random judge or lawyer would be to put my legacy in jeopardy. That's why, despite being in my upper-20s and in perfect health, I've created a will.
In fact, I've created 3:
- A will for my money/physical assets
- A living will, to determine what will happen if I'm incapacitated but not dead
- An electronic will, to ensure that my online properties are taken care of.
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Nobody enjoys thinking about their own mortality.
But there's a whole estate-planning industry built around it, in part because nobody wants to think about it! By thinking about this stuff while you're alive, you can save your family a whole lot of headache in addition to their heartache.
To provide some manner of guidance for your own planning, here's a summary of what I did:
- I created a guide for how to distribute my money and other tangible assets (obviously; that's the first thing most people think of when they think about estate planning). I sent this document to trusted relatives and friends.
A fair proportion of my money is allotted to go toward various charitable/non-profit efforts. Some additional money goes to software companies whose work increases the freedom & ease-of-use of computers and the World Wide Web (most of these companies are non-profit, but not all of them). A little extra money goes to the executor to compensate that person for his/her trouble executing my estate.
- I created a living will of approximately 3 sentences, basically stating that if I'm comatose, I want to be removed from life support if my health makes no progress within 30 days.
- My electronic will contains passwords and information about my digital properties.
I chopped this list into 3 pieces, put the parts into sealed envelopes, and mailed the parts to 3 different people who do not know each other. This precaution prevents someone from 'going rogue' and having power over my entire digital life! I do trust each of these individuals not to try anything like that, but that's too much power for any one person to have.
- Finally, I've set up a "dead man's switch" using this very blog. I have set up a post containing links to my will to be published automatically. If I don't re-set the publication date every 6 months, the contents of some of these documents will become publicly available.
Ten years from now, who knows? I may be married with children and have $500,000! (That would be nice, huh?) But given my current situation, and the fact that my assets aren't likely to impress any estate lawyers or probate judges, I think this approach will suffice to make my desires known.
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estate planning can help outline what will happen if you are alive, but no longer able to take care of yourself. It allows you to assign a healthcare power of attorney to make decisions if you are not able to act in sound mind, ensuring your end-of-life care stays true to what you desire.
ReplyDeleteThanks Legacy Lawyers! I've come to appreciate the importance of estate planning, including having a living will!
DeleteEstate planning is guaranteed to come in handy eventually--you know the old saying about death and taxes. But hopefully it will be a long while...