Estate Planning for Beginners: Wills, Trusts, Living Wills, Medical POA, etc.

[Stroganoff]

I have a two-part question surrounding the topic of end-of-life legal documents: wills, trusts, living wills, durable power of attorney, medical power of attorney, and other documents that I'm forgetting.

1. Being named executor on someone else's will.
At least two family members so far have named me executor to their will. I have a copy of one will but not the other. I'd like to get some knowledge in advance on what to expect and what my responsibilities would be, and any wisdom, lessons learned, and mistakes to avoid. I don't want to wait until the time happens to learn all this stuff when I'm dealing with grief, loss, travel, and stress.

2. Setting up these legal documents for myself.
I don't currently have any spouse and/or kids or any other dependents, and I also don't currently have significant assets. But I do have both paper assets and tangible physical assets. And I do have preference on how they are divided and what may go to charity, for example. I have a dozen savings accounts, multiple IRA/401k accounts, and a small business. I am not cool with the default probate process where my assets would go 50/50 to my parents. Where can I learn how to set up some of these documents on the cheap? At least to have "something" instead of nothing, and I can always modify as needed when life situations change. (Note: I have zero intention on leaving this Earth for at least 50, 60 years, but preparedness is a better attitude than hope alone.)

I'm familiar with sites like Nolo.com and LegalZoom.com. (Disclaimer: I have no business relationship with these companies but have read some of their articles and guides.) I believe Nolo has either how-to books to purchase or software that can set up templates. Would these be satisfactory? I don't have a complicated financial picture at this point in my life so can't justify paying a lawyer and/or CPA at this stage of my life. But I do want some basic documents just to have something instead of nothing.

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[ANCAdoc]

#1 No prep is necessary. Their attorney should have helped them make sure everything is done and accounted for, within their wishes. Your job will be to follow it, but their attorney will be there to help their estate, or you hire one.

#2 Recommend an attorney. Sure you can save money doing it online, but you're a doctor, and can afford doing it with live representation and counsel. Their thoughtful explanations were helpful and helped me understand what I didn't know (like in medicine you don't know what you don't know). An attorney friend joked that he personally likes those sites because eventually those people or estates may get counsel and it costs them more in the long run (see that hourly rate, they must read your original documents which alone takes time, let alone correct, edit, inform, etc). All of our docs (wife and I) through an attorney (~345/hr) and his paralegal was ~1500.

 

[Stroganoff]

#1 No prep is necessary. Their attorney should have helped them make sure everything is done and accounted for, within their wishes. Your job will be to follow it, but their attorney will be there to help their estate, or you hire one.

I don't believe either family member went through an attorney (or if they did, they didn't tell me). I do think it's strange how family member #2 casually let me know I was executor but never gave me a copy of his will in advance. I think I still want to read up on the responsibilities an executor has in advance (I think Nolo does have some books on this, and I'll check Amazon for others), since if there are any "issues" with estate planning, I'd rather catch them in advance while they're still alive and can fix things instead of until it's too late. For example, maybe getting beneficiaries/POD accounts set up > leaving this information up to the probate process. I believe if probate can be avoided for some bank accounts, it's better/cheaper in the long run.

And honestly, handling finances is a big part (IMO) of estate planning, and I have no clue what bank accounts, credit cards, deeds, and titles these people have. I don't want to deal with the BS of checking their mail to find out what bills are due. I'd MUCH prefer an itemized list of all accounts and financial institutions in advance, and that's not something I've seen in family member #1's will.

#2 Recommend an attorney. Sure you can save money doing it online, but you're a doctor, and can afford doing it with live representation and counsel. Their thoughtful explanations were helpful and helped me understand what I didn't know (like in medicine you don't know what you don't know). An attorney friend joked that he personally likes those sites because eventually those people or estates may get counsel and it costs them more in the long run (see that hourly rate, they must read your original documents which alone takes time, let alone correct, edit, inform, etc). All of our docs (wife and I) through an attorney (~345/hr) and his paralegal was ~1500.

Eventually I'll get an attorney, but like I said, I'm nowhere close to that life stage yet where I would need one. I'm not a physician, nor am I currently a high net worth individual. My net worth is currently negative, actually.

My question was if anyone in my position (young and no dependents) has set up these documents and what resources they used.