The town of Artesia looks after its own, but in some scenarios, people have to return the favor and look after themselves. Creating an estate plan ensures that your loved ones have the information and legal authority they need to carry out your wishes after an unfortunate event.
With an estate plan in place, you can know with confidence that your affairs are prepared for situations like your medical incapacitation or unexpected death. While no one likes to think about these things, the truth is that the right preparation can make it easier to not have to worry. By having a will, an advance directive, a durable power of attorney, and other documents in place, you can be ready for nearly any situation — and so can your loved ones.
Reach out to an Artesia estate planning lawyer to learn about your options, discuss your wishes, and form the right strategy for your unique situation. You can discuss these topics and more during a no-obligation consultation and estate plan review with New Mexico Financial & Estate Planning Attorneys.
Book your appointment with an experienced attorney team today when you call our firm at (505) 503-1637 or contact us online.
Your first meeting with a New Mexico estate planning attorney can go however you want. There’s nothing wrong with showing up with nothing but a set of ideas and questions in your mind.
However, you can make quicker progress — and start to understand what’s needed to build your personalized estate plan — by getting the following information in order.
If you have a will, a draft of one, or even some loose notes, these can help you discuss your preferences with your attorney and inspire an up-to-date version.
Assets like these make up the bulk of your estate. For most families, it’s critical that they are passed on to a spouse or children. Others may have more complex arrangements in mind, which may include a directive to sell the family home or other high-value assets to distribute the proceeds to multiple parties. In any case, making a list of titled assets will paint the clearest picture of what your estate plan could look like.
Many of your assets can be passed to your intended heirs without needing a will or probate. By making proper arrangements for your accounts, they can be transferred to another person’s name or liquidated into their account of choice. These preparations are another key component of estate planning — one that deserves careful consideration. Be sure to mention them when meeting with a New Mexico probate lawyer to discuss your options.
Your family dynamic can end up dictating your estate plan more than you might think. This is especially true with blended families, such as those involving stepchildren, a recent remarriage, and similar scenarios.
Whether or not you want to include everyone in your family in your estate plan is up to you. But the reality is that certain laws could affect your estate plan after your death unless proper arrangements are made. For example, your spouse and children are entitled to receive a family allowance (NM Stat § 45-2-402) unless this requirement is specifically waived in your will.
As another example, a grandchild with close ties to you may be unhappy and cause legal issues or delays if they are left out of your estate plan. Considering possible issues that may arise requires analyzing your whole family, including your current dependents, your immediate family members, and your spouse.
Complex assets and business holdings mean more complex estate planning arrangements. The good news is that you can often use a business succession plan and strategies like a transfer-on-death deed to have these matters handled outside of probate.
Your advance directive and healthcare power of attorney provide medical instructions to the people you trust most in life. When you’re incapacitated (meaning you’re unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate), these instructions determine the types of care you receive. They can also determine whether you receive treatment in your own home for certain medical situations, rather than staying in a hospital.
While you don’t have to know exactly what you want to happen if you become incapacitated, it helps to generally understand how you feel about procedures like:
Your Artesia estate planning lawyer can walk you through each of these topics in detail during the creation of your advance directive. Having your general wishes and preferences written down is a fantastic first step.
You can also arrive at your appointment with a general understanding of the beneficiary arrangements you want to make, your preferences for the handling of your remains, and other key aspects of estate planning.
Even if these plans change, having specific answers to questions like “What would you want to happen if your preferred heirs are unable to receive their inheritance because of death or refusal?” can help you form contingency plans in case things don’t go the way you expect.
Your executor (called a “personal representative” by New Mexico’s courts) is responsible for paying off debts after your death. These debts can include outstanding mortgages, credit card balances, taxes, and other unpaid balances.
Having a list of these debts handy can make it possible to prepare for their payment (or transfer to another borrower, in the case of certain secured debts) during probate. You can also take steps to protect your heirs from having new debts fall on them or pre-existing debts wipe out their inheritance, using trusts or other arrangements.
The number one thing you should arrive at your appointment with is a head (or, better yet, a sheet of paper) filled with questions you have about estate planning. Asking these questions helps you understand the path you’ll take forward, what options you have available, what might happen during unexpected situations, and other critical pieces of information you’ll need to start on your estate plan.
The exact documents and preparations you make will depend upon your situation, your preferences, and the strategies you want to use.
A complete estate plan can include any of the following:
While all aspects of an estate plan are, technically, optional, a will is highly recommended as the bare minimum.
Without a will, your estate — which consists of everything you owned in life — is considered “intestate” when you die. State laws determine who inherits your property at that point (NM Stat § 45-2-101). Usually, it goes entirely to your surviving spouse and/or children. If these parties are not available to inherit everything, then your property goes to your next of kin.
With few exceptions (some of which we’ll describe below), your will is the only way to legally avoid dying intestate. Your will can also state your preferences for who handles your final estate (your “personal representative”) and who assumes guardianship over any of your minor children or adult dependents.
Even if your will is one page and only mentions your other estate plans in brief, it is still worth the trouble of creating one. You can discuss your preferences and options with an Artesia estate planning lawyer to understand the best type of will for your unique situation.
These two types of designations are one of the few ways to transfer property after your death outside of a will. Beneficiary designations are considered a routine part of banking and investment accounts. They order the financial institution to either transfer ownership of the assets to your chosen beneficiary (a “transfer on death” account) or to pay out the full balance to them (a “payable on death” account).
Similarly, joint tenancy with rights of survivorship (JTWROS) property titles ensure that your most precious holdings don’t end up in legal limbo. A simple form and transfer process is sometimes all it takes to include someone else on the title of your home or other key properties.
Best of all, these types of transfers can occur within a few days of your death, reducing delays while avoiding much of the effort and expense that can come with probate.
An advance healthcare directive (sometimes shortened to “advance directive”) is a set of documents that go into effect when you have been medically incapacitated.
Collectively, these documents can spare your loved ones a lot of uncertainty and emotional hardship after you have been in a serious accident or developed an incapacitating condition. The documents can also prevent delays in care or disputes over things like whether to give you artificial nutrition (i.e., a “feeding tube”) if you are unconscious for an extended period with little hope of recovery.
Your Artesia estate planning lawyer can walk you through the main components of your directive, including key preferences to declare. You can then discuss your choices with your family to ensure that your wishes are understood and that your loved ones are prepared to carry them out after a major medical event.
Similar to your advance directive, this document becomes important after you have been incapacitated. It permits a fiduciary agent to perform tasks on your behalf, such as paying bills, making account transfers, and potentially even overseeing business activities.
The powers you give your agent can be highly customized, so be sure to discuss your options and the situations you want to prepare for with an experienced estate planning lawyer.
Only certain estate plans will benefit from a trust, but those that do can get a lot of mileage from one.
There are two main types of trusts to be aware of when it comes to estate planning:
Digital asset planning usually involves making a list of online account logins and describing how you want assets like social media accounts or digital files handled after your death. This information should be kept separate from your will, so make sure that your executor or another trusted person knows where the list is located.
Your wishes for the handling of your final remains and the use of a service to memorialize you can be included in your estate plan. However, know that — unlike the beneficiary designations in your will — these instructions are not legally binding.
Nevertheless, having your wishes known and recorded greatly increases the chances that they will be followed by your executor or other loved ones. You can also choose to make a contract with your preferred funeral home and leave a deposit, which makes it easier for your family to honor your wishes.
New Mexico Financial & Estate Planning Attorneys has decades of collective experience helping our treasured clients make preparations. We can work closely with you and your family to establish the ideal estate plan for your unique needs.
Get started creating a personalized estate plan in Artesia when you make an appointment with an experienced attorney near you. Call our offices at (505) 503-1637 or contact us online to schedule your confidential, no-obligation consultation today.
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