Start 2026 with a Resolution to Complete Your Estate Plan

Start 2026 with a Resolution to Complete Your Estate Plan- Every New Year, we make resolutions to eat right, exercise more and get our finances organized. These are all good intentions. However, they require long-term changes every day and are often ditched before spring arrives. On the other hand, getting an estate plan in place can usually be done in one or two meetings with an estate planning attorney, says a recent article from Halston Media titled “5 estate planning & elder law resolutions for 2026!”

Here's what needs to be done to put your estate plan in order:

Execute advance directives. This includes a General Power of Attorney, which allows you to appoint someone to handle financial affairs if you can’t do so yourself. You can nominate one or more agents with successor agents. However, it’s best not to have more than two co-agents. They can be granted broad authority, including the ability to make gifts to themselves or others, as necessary for Medicaid eligibility or estate tax planning. They still must always act in your best interest.

A Health Care Proxy lets you appoint someone to make health care decisions for you if you cannot do so. This person needs to know your end-of-life wishes. Do you want to be kept alive if you are brain dead or comatose with no hope of recovery? Always name an alternate agent in case the primary is unable or unwilling to act.

The HIPAA Authorization lets you appoint someone to access medical records, including records from doctors and hospitals. You may need to specifically allow access to psychiatric, drug, or alcohol addiction and HIV/AIDS records. Check with an estate planning attorney to see what your state’s rules are.

A Living Will is a statement expressing your desire not to be kept alive by extraordinary measures if you are brain dead or comatose with no hope of recovery. It is a difficult thing to contemplate. However, it will allow your agents and family members to let you die with grace if you don’t want to be intubated or kept alive by artificial means.

Every adult needs to have a Last Will and Testament. This controls assets held in your name and directs their distribution. The Will also appoints the executor of your estate and guardians for minor children. The Will must be submitted to the court for validation and approval of the executor.

If you die without a will, the laws of your state will direct how assets are distributed. A person named by the court will administer your estate. The person named to handle your estate may not be the person you would have wanted. However, the court will make that decision for you. Even if you have trusts, assets held in joint ownership, or assets with beneficiary designations, you still need a will to express your wishes.

Talk with an estate planning attorney about having a Revocable Living Trust or an Irrevocable Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. If you are concerned about paying for long-term care, you will want a trust to protect your home and other non-retirement assets.

Check beneficiary designations on all accounts, including pensions, IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k) s, life insurance and investment accounts. A spouse is typically the primary beneficiary, with children named as contingent. If assets don’t have a beneficiary, the asset will become part of your probate estate. Whoever is named on the asset as a beneficiary will receive it, regardless of what is in your will.

Getting an estate plan done is easier than losing weight and exercising every day. Meet with an experienced estate planning attorney once or twice, and your estate plan will be done. Then you can go to the gym!

Schedule your phone consultation: THE LAW OFFICES OF CLAUDE S. SMITH, III

Start 2026 with a Resolution to Complete Your Estate Plan

Reference: Halston Media (Jan. 6, 2026) “5 estate planning & elder law resolutions for 2026!”