What 3 elements does a basic estate plan need?

Everyone benefits from having an estate plan, but as you age, your family grows and you acquire more assets, having a North Carolina estate plan in place becomes particularly important. Like many, you may have put off estate planning because you feel it takes too much time or money. In fact, neither is true, and you may accomplish many of the most critical estate planning objectives by creating a plan that has three main components.

According to Bankrate, you may experience numerous benefits by creating an estate plan that includes a will, a power of attorney and an advance health care directive.

The will

Leaving a will behind allows you to control what happens to your assets when you die. Otherwise, distributing your estate falls on the state, and it may not make distributions in the manner you would like.

The power of attorney

When you create a power of attorney, you appoint someone to handle your finances and related affairs if you are unable to do so. You may need someone to do this if you become incapacitated and unable to pay your bills or manage your debts.

The advance health care directive

An advance health care directive lets you stipulate certain desires about your health care in the event you become incapacitated. You may dictate if you want doctors to keep you alive via artificial means, for example. You may also state if you wish to donate your organs, among other important decisions.

You may also adapt your estate plan later on by considering trusts or other estate planning tools. However, creating these documents now helps protect you and your loved ones in the event that the unthinkable occurs.