The Five Essential Documents Every Adult Should Have

Food for thought

“Adulting”. It’s a not so fun term that covers responsibilities like paying the rent/mortgage, auto loans, student loans and a bevy of other bills that come with being an adult.

While the joke is usually humorous, one part of adulting that should be taken very seriously is having an estate plan. In that plan, there are five essential documents each person should have in force.

The most basic and, arguably, important is a last will and testament, or will.

A will covers your final wishes when you pass away. A will sets the framework for who you want to carry out your final wishes. Additionally, it will name individuals, groups, or organizations whom you want to benefit from your estate. It will also name anyone whom you specifically designate to not benefit from your estate. Many will include a funeral directive within them. However, you can also develop a separate funeral directive document should your will not include one.

The next critical component of your plan is a HIPPA waiver. This waiver allows your medical professionals to share information with those you have named in your healthcare power of attorney, spouse or even adult children.

The HIPPA waiver tag-teams with a healthcare power of attorney.

This critical portion of your plan names trusted parties to carry out your wishes should you become incapacitated. Remember, a will only enters enforcement after you pass away. 

A healthcare power of attorney teamed with the HIPPA waiver will allow doctors to share medical information with the person/people you name should you not be able to make medical decisions. Without it, there may be delays in needed medical care.

Dovetailing on a healthcare power of attorney which names a trusted person or people who can make decisions, a living will (in some cases called an advance directive) will say specifically what medical treatments are and are not allowed.

For instance: do you want to be kept on life support? If so, under what circumstances and for how long. 

Again, remember, your will is only in effect once you pass away. Incapacitation will not bring any wishes listed into play.

Another key part of your plan is a financial power of attorney. Again, should you end up in a physical or mental condition that would not allow you to make decisions for yourself, you can appoint someone to make financial decisions on your behalf.

A financial power of attorney would allow your trusted representative to pay bills, access your accounts, manage investments, handle taxes and several other financial matters that may come about. You know, adulting.

Without this, should you end up in a condition where you are unable to make decisions, your loved ones may be left in financial limbo and, possibly, have to go to court to make sure their needs are taken care of.

While not 100% essential, a hospital visitation form is recommended. In the event you end up needing hospitalization, this would legally dictate who is and is not allowed to visit you.

Do you have questions about creating an estate plan? Take a look at our website and schedule a free consultation to have your questions answered.

Up next: the up-side and pitfalls of using AI to develop your estate plan.