Planning for the end of life is essential to ensure that our requests are respected and legally protected. It’s important to learn about the legal documents to have in place to ensure our end-of-life wishes are respected and protected. As we journey towards the end of life this can contribute towards peace of mind and quality of life for ourselves and for our loved ones.
As part of VOYCE’s Community Education Series, we were joined by two leading financial planning experts local to the St. Louis area to help us understand the important documents required and the legal processes involved at end of life.
Joining us were Brian G. Quinn, CELA®, with the law firm of Quinn Estate & Elder Law, LLC, and Paul Gantner, with Amen, Gantner and Capriano.
END OF LIFE PLANNING
A wide variety of topics and perspectives were explored and explained in detail by our guest presenters including:
- Health Care Power of Attorney
- Will vs. Trusts
- Advance Directives & Living Will
- Guardianship/Conservatorship
- The Legal Documents to Have in Place
As Gantner highlighted to our audience, “Like many things in life…timing is everything. You will have a greater range of options available to you if you make plans for the end of life sooner rather than later. In the area of estate planning – if you wait until you need it, it’s too late. We want to have people in the best place to deal with the difficult situations ahead.”
Gantner discussed the importance of working with a qualified and reputable professional to properly put end-of-life plans in place. “Because of poor estate planning, the courts are dealing with countless lawsuits over wills and poorly drafted living trusts. I use five must-have documents, and recommend that everyone has these documents in place for end-of-life planning.”
THE FIVE MUST HAVE LEGAL DOCUMENTS TO HAVE IN PLACE
- Property Power of Attorney
- Health Care Power of Attorney
- HIPAA Authorization
- Advanced Directives & Living Will
- Out of Hospital DNR
Gantner described the benefits that come with preparing these 5 essential documents and their legal importance.
ESTATE PLANNING
Quinn is an Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney and VOYCE Board Member. As an Estate Planning professional Brian has significant experience working closely with clients to ensure that their estates are planned and managed according to their wishes.
As Quinn shared, “Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person’s life, for the disposal of their estate. It’s all about creating a roadmap to make sure that you have someone to manage your finances and health care. This roadmap can help to eliminate uncertainties after death and maximize the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses. It’s all about asking ‘if something happened to you today, what would you want to happen?’”
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LEGAL DOCUMENTS TO HAVE IN PLACE & GET CONNECTED
End-of-life planning and Estate planning are central to ensuring peace of mind and that we protect our assets and our wishes for the future. In order to ensure our wishes are respected, we should work with professional elder care and estate planning experts. It’s never too early to start planning for the end of life and to put the legal frameworks in place which will ensure a more comfortable transition for ourselves and for our loved ones.
Thank you to Brian Quinn and Paul Gantner for joining us to present as part of our Community Education Series as we learned about the Legal Documents to Have in Place.
For more information on our guest speakers and their services please visit:
Quinn Estate & Elder Law: (636)-428-3344
Amen, Gantner and Capriano: (314)-966-8077
VOYCE recently hosted a Community Education session on financing long-term care with valuable information on options and strategies for managing personal finances, assets, and estates. For more information, please see our recent blog post.
To access the full presentation, video, and supporting materials, fill out the form below.
Thank you for sharing. We all definitely need this when the time comes.
Thanks!
Hello, I am a grief counselor and more times than not I hear so many people say “I wish I would of known this or that”. I was wondering if you had basic information on Wills vs trusts; property power of attorney; guardianship vs conservatorship; Advanced Directives vs Living Will that you would be willing to share with me, so I can better prepare my families in the community who are facing end of life illnesses before they get to a state of incapacitation. Thank you
Hi Tammy,
To access this presentation, please use the form on the page and it will be sent to you via email! In the meantime, you can also check out a similar presentation we have on the documents you mentioned, Legacy Planning 101: https://youtu.be/O6dsZ_3an0A?si=QMKbTpc2r1cnKKXN.
Thanks for your interest!
Hello,
I would like access to the video presentation about the legal documents to have in place for end of life.
Thanks,
Matt Sass
Hi Matt,
Please enter your information in the form on the webpage and the presentation will be sent to you via email!
Thank you!
i have a will.
but not health care designatee
which should i have if not both
rhona hoffman
The best thing to do if you are unsure is consult an attorney who can look over everything you have in place and your personal situation. However, in most cases, your will only deals with your estate after your death and would not address any needs you have while still living but unable to make decisions for yourself.
Hey, need a bit of clarity on this.Thanks