Now that you have seen the impact of coronavirus on people, you need to be ready for anything. Coronavirus affects people of all ages, races and gender. With this said, this is the perfect time to start thinking about these people that are vital in your estate plan.As it stands now, the number of cases has risen to 92,224 with deaths reaching 3,131.
Why are we insisting on running to the lawyer now rather than later? Well, when you get coronavirus, you will be quarantined, and you won’t get the time to talk to your lawyer face to face because even the state won’t allow it.
You will have put your family in problems, because they will end up arguing about your estate their whole life.
The role of an executor is to obtain the grant of the probate, then collect all the assets together, sell them when appropriate, settle bills, taxes and distribute the assets to the designated beneficiaries.
The good thing is that the executor will have an estate account, whereby they come up with a report that shows original assets and liabilities and what they have done with them over time.
When you have minors on board, the executor is tasked with managing the trust fund for kids under the age of 18.
Let us look at the various ways to come up with executors and guardians for your estate.
Use the Charity as an Executor
If you decide to leave a vast part of your estate to a charity of your choice, then you need to appoint the charity or one of the officers in the charity as the executor of your estate.
Before you go ahead to ask the charity to act as the executor, you need to ask them a few questions:- Are they willing to take on the gift? Some charities will turn away your gift depending on various factors. When this is the case, you need to find another charity in the same line.
- Do they want to appoint the charity by itself or would they want to appoint an officer to handle it?
- How will the plan work out? This means that they might want to handle some of the costs while you handle the rest.
Decide on the Number of Executors for the Estate
You can appoint as many executors as possible, but only a few will be able to run the estate when you pass away. The rest will come in only when the designated executors aren’t able to make decisions on your behalf.If you have asset categories, then you can assign each to an executor. You can have one to handle real estate and another to handle your collection of art pieces.
If you want the estate to go to your partner or spouse, then it is ideal to make them the executors of the estate.
Guardians
When you pass away, it is up to the guardian to take control over the lives of your kids. The guardian adopts the responsibilities and powers of the departed parents.
The role of the guardian is to take up parental responsibility for children when there is no parent to do so. You need to have a guardian for your child before you pass away. Make sure you choose someone that you know has the best interests of the kid at heart, not just anyone.
If you haven’t appointed the guardian at the time of your demise, then the court takes up this responsibility and appoints a guardian on your behalf.
Once a guardian is appointed, they automatically take up the role when you die. If the other parent is still alive but doesn’t have parental responsibility, then the guardian still takes over this responsibility.Appointing the Guardian
You can make this legal by doing it in your will. You can also appoint the guardian in a separate document as long as it is duly signed in front of two witnesses.
When you decide to appoint a guardian, it is imperative that you ask them before making them guardians. It is a norm to leave some money in your will for the needs of the kids. The good thing is that the guardian is provided for by the government, and is also seen as the parent of the child.
Last words
The deadly coronavirus is on the rise, and with this comes the need to make sure your family is well taken care of. Try and assign roles to various people so that they can take care of your kids. Talk to your estate planning lawyer to make sure you understand these roles before you assign people to handle them when the time comes.
