Idaho Law Blog
I meet with clients almost every day to discuss their estate planning. When I do this I discuss the differences between estate planning and intestacy. Most of my clients are surprised to hear a default estate plan exists for everyone. It is only when a person actually creates a written estate plan that they eliminate the default estate plan of intestacy. Here are the main differences between Estate Planning and the laws of Intestacy.
APPOINTMENTS
If you have a written estate plan, you have the ability to name people to certain positions including a personal representative, a trustee, and the individuals who hold your power of attorney for finances and property or for health care. If you don’t have written estate plan, the laws of intestacy provide a default list of individuals who can seek to be appointed by the Court to these positions.
POWER OF ATTORNEY
There is no such thing as a default power of attorney. If you do not create a written estate plan and include a power of attorney in that plan, the only way another person can have the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf is if they are appointed through a guardianship proceeding as your legal guardian. This is a costly and time-consuming procedure. Requiring this will cost a lot more than completing an entire estate plan that can take care of many more things than simply naming a guardian for you.
ABILITY TO DISINHERIT
The laws of intestacy do not allow you to disinherit an individual. Either they are your relative and are your default beneficiary or they are not. However, when you have a written estate plan you have the ability to specifically designate who your beneficiaries are. More importantly you have the ability to disinherit any specific individual that you wish.
ABILITY TO DIRECT DISTRIBUTIONS OF PROPERTY
With a written will, you get to control the distributions of your property. In other words, you get to specifically state what types of property or what specific property will go to what specific individuals. You also have the ability to indicate that property will not go to certain individuals. The laws of intestacy do not allow this. These laws provide a statutory scheme for distributions of your property to the individuals who qualify under the statute as your beneficiaries. If they are your beneficiary, then they are entitled to a distribution of your property whether you would have wanted it or not.
Every person has the ability to take control of their estate plan so long as they are alive and are legally competent. If you have questions about how you can avoid the laws of intestacy and can create a customized estate plan, we can help. Call us toll free at 877-232-6101 or 208-232-6101 for a consultation with Lane Erickson and the Racine Olson team of Estate Planning attorneys in Idaho. You can also email Lane Erickson directly at lve@racinelaw.net. We will answer your Idaho Estate Planning questions and will help you solve your Idaho Estate Planning problems.
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