An effectively drafted estate plan should allow for your easy management of assets while you are alive and well. Additionally, it should provide guidance and instruction for the management of those assets in the event of your illness. Further, provisions and instructions should be included on the use of your assets to take care of your family members in the event of your illness or death. The plan should also provide instruction upon your death for the distribution of your estate assets to the individuals, charities, and other beneficiaries that you desire. Those assets should be distributed to such beneficiaries in a manner which empowers them in ways that you desire and should be distributed to such beneficiaries in a time frame which you believe best serves such beneficiaries.
An effective estate plan generally consists of some combination of the following documents:
Last Will and Testament
Revocable Living Trust
Power of Attorney
Advance Healthcare Directive
To read more about these documents, the law of Oregon probate, and how an estate plan can safeguard you and your family’s future, please review the following brochures, prepared in part by David P.A. Seulean during his tenure on the Oregon State Bar Estate Planning Section:
