Do Single Adults Without Children Need an Estate Plan?

There is a common misconception that single adults without children do not need to worry about estate planning since they will not need to determine how a partner or children will inherit their property. However, this is a misunderstanding, and it is one that is important to dispel. Perhaps even more so in certain ways than adults in committed relationships, or those with children, it is necessary for single adults without kids to have an estate plan. And there are particular components that you should be thinking about in detail. Our Norcross estate planning lawyers can tell you more, and we can help you to get your estate plan in place.

What Will Happen If You Become Incapacitated? 

Are there certain medical decisions you want to be able to make for yourself if you become incapacitated? Are there particular ways you want your finances to be handled if you are in a serious accident or face a medical emergency? You will absolutely need to work on estate planning with a lawyer in Gwinnett County.

There are a couple of key ways that you can make your wishes known for both medical and financial purposes, and people you can identify — people you trust — to ensure that your wishes are carried out properly. For financial matters, you can name an agent to have power of attorney over all of your finances, or particular financial matters, in the event that you become incapacitated. You can always amend or revoke a power of attorney document while you have capacity, and you can create it so that it will only spring into effect in the event of your incapacity.

As for health decisions, you will want to create a Georgia Health Care Advance Directive. In this document, you can clarify your wishes for certain types of treatment in the event of your own incapacity (including your desire to avoid certain kinds of life-prolonging treatment). You can also name a person to serve as your health care agent, who can make certain decisions on your behalf in the event of your incapacity. This person will only have the ability to make decisions for you if you are incapacitated and cannot voice such decisions for yourself.

Avoiding Intestate Succession 

In addition, even if you do not have a partner or children to whom you want to leave assets, it is important to know that you will need a will or other estate planning tools if you want particular parties to have your property after your death.

If you die without a will, Georgia’s intestate succession laws will apply, and none of your friends or loved ones will have a say in your assets. You can avoid this by designating beneficiaries on accounts, making a will, or even establishing a trust.

Contact a Gwinnett County Estate Planning Lawyer 

While you might have mistakenly thought that making an estate plan was only necessary if you were in a committed relationship or if you had children, but as we have discussed above, estate planning can be even more important in some respects for single adults without kids. To find out more about creating documents that include powers of attorney, your advance directive for health care, and other documents, you should get in touch with one of the experienced Gwinnett County estate planning attorneys at Bowman Law Firm today. We can discuss your specific needs with you today, and we can ensure that you have a detailed estate plan that will provide you with peace of mind moving forward. Contact us for more information about how we can assist you.

Sources:

law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-53/

aging.georgia.gov/get-advance-directives