If you are worried about your estate plan and whether it will protect your family in case of an unexpected crisis, an estate planning lawyer may be able to help. Follow these steps to ensure your estate planning objectives are met.

Review Your Existing Estate Plan

If you have already written a will and other estate planning documents, you may already have a plan in place. An experienced lawyer can review your existing estate planning documents and recommend if you should make any changes based on your current estate planning needs and objectives.

An estate planning lawyer may suggest changes if any of the following changes have recently occurred in your life:

• You got married.
• You had a child.
• You adopted a child.
• You got divorced.
• Your opinions on emergency healthcare have changed.
• Your relationship with your personal representative, trustee, or agent has changed.
• A beneficiary has died.

Put Necessary Estate Planning Documents in Place

After you discuss your needs with a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer, he or she can recommend the documents that you will need to put in place. These may include:

• A last will and testament: This document explains who you want to inherit your property when you pass away. You can also nominate a guardian to care for your minor children.
• A durable financial power of attorney: This legal document allows a trusted person you name the right to make monetary decisions on your behalf.
• Advance health care directive: This document usually consists of two parts. The first part is your living will in which you state the type of medical treatment you want in a crisis situation. The second names someone to make health care decisions on your behalf if you are unable to make these decisions on your own.
• HIPAA authorization: You can give consent for someone else to be able to access your confidential health care records with this document.



In addition to these documents, your estate planning lawyer can recommend whether you need to put in place any other documents or provisions, based on your particular circumstances.

Take Advantage of Technology

Even if your estate planning lawyer ultimately creates new estate planning documents for you, you and your lawyer can complete much of the preliminary work with today's technology. For example, you can complete a questionnaire and checklist through email or fax.

You can even arrange an appointment with your attorney through video or audioconferencing tools.

Ensure You Follow Proper Formalities

Even though you can complete many of the preliminary work with your lawyer through technology, be sure that you still follow the proper formalities. For example, you need to have two witnesses to your will in California. You cannot skip this requirement because of the pandemic. If you do not follow these formalities, your estate planning documents may not be valid.

Additionally, California does not currently allow online notarization. So, if you need your document notarized, you will need to have a notary public physically present.

Ask Questions

You should be a critical part of your own estate plan. If you do not understand something, ask questions. Your lawyer should be approachable and available to answer any questions that arise during the process.

Contact a Knowledgeable Estate Planning Lawyer

If you are concerned with your current state of affairs, do not hesitate to contact an estate planning attorney. A knowledgeable estate planning lawyer can discuss the current laws and make recommendations about what type of arrangements will protect your best interests. Contact the Kisner Law Firm to schedule a confidential consultation. We look forward to helping you with your estate planning needs.