Portales Estate Planning Lawyer

Portales is a town built on resilience and determination. Many families here live off the land, which only gives back as much as it gets put into it. As a result, all households rely upon hard work to get by. When it comes time to pass down the fruits of that hard work to the next generation, families will want to put extra care and effort into those plans.

This is where New Mexico Financial & Estate Planning Attorneys can come in. Our hardworking Portales estate planning lawyers can put their knowledge and experience to the test, helping you secure your legacy. With the right preparations, you can know that your efforts will pay off for the people you care about most. From executing a will to ensuring land gets passed down to the next generation, the estate plans you create can leave you feeling confident and prepared for whatever comes next.

Make the call that could make life better for the people you love, maybe even 100 years from now. Schedule a confidential appointment with no obligation to use our services further when you call our offices at (505) 503-1637 or contact us online today.

What Does a Portales Estate Planning Attorney Do?

“Estate planning” can mean different things, depending on who you are and what you hope to accomplish.

For some people, estate planning begins and ends with the signing and witnessing of their will. While everyone should take the effort to keep their will up to date every few years (or any time they have a big life change), just the act of creating a will puts you ahead of many households. In fact, less than a third of U.S. adults have a will ready.

Of course, estate planning can (and usually should) go beyond just having your will ready. It can also mean updating the title on your home and any other property you own. These arrangements make it so that the property can transfer to the person you want with minimal fuss. Similarly, you can add someone to your bank accounts to receive its balance using a transfer-on-death (TOD) or payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary.

There are also households with more complicated estates that may benefit from starting a trust. The exact type of estate plan you create all depends on what you want to accomplish — and what it is that you’re trying to protect.

When you come to an estate planning attorney in Portales, they can help you figure out what the best arrangements might be for you. They always start by listening carefully and asking lots of questions. Some of the most important things to discuss include:

• What assets you want to pass down
• Whether your asset portfolio includes land or business property
• Your family situation, including whether you (or your spouse) have children from a previous marriage
• Any challenges you’re worried about, such as passing down a property that’s co-owned with someone else in the family
• Who you want to represent your estate after you pass (AKA your executor or “personal representative”)
• Whether you’d like to prepare for a situation where you’re mentally unable to communicate or care for yourself (this is called “incapacity planning”)
• Whether you have an older will or estate plan that you need to update
• Whether you expect big changes in the future, such as a marriage, divorce, retirement, birth of another child, etc.
• How you can prepare for your survivors to handle your taxes and other debts after your death

Once we go through all of these details, we can make recommendations that are tailored to your unique life situation. You can then go through all of the proper motions to make, sign, and safely store your documents for the future. If you want, we can also help you prepare the person you want to serve as your executor while leaving instructions for your closest loved ones.

The main goal is getting prepared, meaning you’re ready for just about anything and everything that life might throw your way. With these plans in the bag, you can rest easier. That’s because you’ll know that your loved ones will have the information, documents, and preparations they need to carry out your wishes.

What Is in an Estate Plan?

Your estate plan can include any (or all) of the following:

• Last will and testament — A will declares who you want to serve as your estate’s personal representative in probate court, your arrangements for passing down property, and who you would want to act as guardian for any minor children (or adult dependents).
• Account beneficiary and transfer designations — Including these on your banking and retirement accounts means that your loved ones can receive an immediate transfer after your death, as opposed to waiting for probate.
• Joint tenancy with rights of survivorship (JTWROS) deeds — These particular types of titles automatically transfer your ownership share of property to another person after your death.
• Life insurance — You may be able to find an affordable policy that can help your surviving loved ones pay for the costs of a funeral and burial, along with help paying down estate debts.
• Durable financial power of attorney — A durable power of attorney can give someone permission to handle your finances, access key accounts, and resolve other business matters for you when you are unable to handle them yourself (typically because of a medical condition).
• Advance healthcare directive — This set of documents allows you to name someone to handle your care decisions (AKA a healthcare power of attorney), along with instructions to guide them (AKA your “living will”) when you lack capacity.
• Living Trust — A living trust can take legal ownership of property to simplify inheritances while potentially providing other benefits.
• Testamentary Trust — If you would rather have your estate assets remain intact after your death, as opposed to going directly to heirs, you can include a testamentary trust in your will. These are most often used to give assets to someone who was a minor at the time of your death, but they can also work well for making gifts over multiple generations.
• Digital asset planning — You can create a plan to help your loved ones know what to do with your digital files, photos, and accounts after your passing.
• Estate tax and debt planning — The right planning can ensure that your survivors have plenty of funds to pay off debts like a mortgage, while also preparing them to pay for any remaining taxes. These preparations reduce the risk that estate assets must be sold to pay off debts, instead of the intended party inheriting them.

A will is always recommended for all estates, and you should also consider creating powers of attorney for both financial and healthcare matters. Your Portales estate planning lawyer can review the details of your finances and other key factors to determine if other estate plan components could be beneficial towards achieving your goals.

Do I Need a Will in Portales?

Everyone needs a will. While having one isn’t legally required, a will is the only way to legally pass down most types of estate assets to the people you want to inherit them.

If you pass without a will, it is known as “dying intestate.” New Mexico’s intestacy laws then dictate who gets what. Often, your assets get split between a small pool of relatives. These relatives have to divide everything evenly, which can make things messy — and require the sale of assets you would rather have passed down intact.

With a will, your assets go to whom you want to receive them. They also give you the chance to pick the person whom you want to serve as your estate’s personal representative. This person is responsible for filing for probate, paying off your estate’s debts, and transferring your assets to the proper heir.

If you have minor children or other people who depend on you for daily needs, then a will also allows you to designate your preferred guardian who can care for them after you pass.

These three abilities make a will a powerful document. The relatively few hours you put into making one can literally pay off in terms of hundreds of hours (and, often, thousands of dollars in legal costs) saved by your survivors.

What Do I Need to Do to Make a Will in Portales?

Creating a will is fairly straightforward. First, you need to have an inventory of estate assets as well as a plan for inheritances. You then need to use the right legal language to create a document that does the following:

• Declares that the document is your will
• Declares that you are of sound mind
• States the date that the will was created (or when it was eventually signed)
• Lists all of your property distribution preferences (aka describes your heirs and what they inherit)
• Lists backup heirs to inherit property if your first choices are unavailable
• Names your preferred personal representative and a few backup choices
• Names your preferred guardian for each dependent, along with backups
• Acknowledges complications to your intended plans, such as describing property that is co-owned or to which you only have partial possession, access, or enjoyment
• Revokes any old copies of your will

Your will can also include a residuary clause, which gives away all remaining property not described specifically in your will to your surviving spouse or other preferred heir.

A New Mexico estate planning lawyer can help you create a personalized will that puts all of your wishes into clear, enforceable terms. They can make sure that everything is written with respect to the state’s specific laws and the court’s expectations.

Also, unlike a “one size fits all” DIY will you may find online, your attorney can make sure that the will is capable of accomplishing what you expect it to. After all, by the time your loved ones discover problems with a will, it is almost always too late to fix it. Having a lawyer means being aware of these common mistakes and issues, so you can get it all right before it’s too late.

Executing Your Will

To make your will official, you have to sign it in front of two witnesses. These witnesses will then sign the will in your presence and in front of one another (NM Stat § 45-2-502). You should then have the will notarized, which eliminates the need to have a witness called to attest to the authenticity of the will at a later date (NM Stat § 45-2-504).

What Is Incapacity Planning? Do I Need to Discuss It With an Attorney in Portales?

“Incapacitation” can refer to any situation where you’ve lost the ability to communicate or otherwise handle important tasks on your own. It can happen in situations where you have been:

• Seriously injured or sickened, resulting in a catatonic state or a coma
• Severely weakened by a fatal illness or condition
• Suffering from a degenerative brain condition, such as Alzheimer’s disease
• Missing for several weeks, months, or years, depending on the conditions you set

In any of these cases, your loved ones could face issues with handling your affairs on your behalf. They may need a court order to access your bank accounts to pay for your medical care, for example. They may also be unable to tell your medical care teams about the types of treatments you would want.

Incapacity planning prepares both you and the people you trust most for these moments. It includes creating an advance healthcare directive and a durable financial power of attorney.

Both of these documents name someone you trust to act as your “agent” or “attorney-in-fact.” You can assign someone as your agent to handle your finances, make healthcare decisions, or both. You can also split the jobs between two people.

Powers of Attorney Can Include Specific Rules, Guidelines, Restrictions, and Instructions

Once your powers of attorney are activated, your agent can only handle the tasks you gave them permission to do. They also have to follow the rules you set for them.

Your instructions for medical care, for example, can require your agent to ask your medical care teams to use any means necessary to prolong your life. Or, you could request that you would rather not be kept on life support if you have no hope of making a full recovery.

Decisions like these are obviously huge, meaning they can weigh heavily on your loved ones. With incapacity planning in place, they’ll not only know what to do but also that it’s what you would have wanted, reducing their burdens.

Talk to an attorney in Portales to learn more about this delicate — but highly beneficial — step in estate planning.

Get Help From an Experienced Portales Estate Planning Law Firm

The legal team at New Mexico Financial & Estate Planning Attorneys is ready to help you understand all of your options and pick the best choices for your unique goals. We understand that estate planning involves making tough decisions, so we are here to help you make the right ones for your unique set of values — and the outcomes you hope to achieve.

Get started creating or updating your estate plans today when you call our firm at (505) 503-1637 or contact us online. We’ll schedule a confidential, no-obligation appointment to discuss your plans, review anything you already have, and start the process of having everything in order. You and your loved ones can then rest easier, knowing you are prepared, no matter what.