When you are alive and able, you are able handle all of life’s critical decisions.   Daily, you work with your professional advisors to address financial, legal, and property-related matters.  Similarly, you make all of your own important medical and health care decisions. 

But what if you lose the ability to handle critical decision-making due to disability or incapacity?   Without proper planning in place, a “black hole” or “control vacuum” would appear.  There would be no single individual vested with the power or legal authority to act on your behalf. 

When this situation arises, the only recourse available is to seek a court ordered guardianship or conservatorship.  But invoking the court’s jurisdiction to rule on these types of matters is often costly, time-consuming, unpredictable, cumbersome, and even embarrassing.  More importantly, the court’s involvement is completely unnecessary.

Proper estate planning operates to fill this “control vacuum” without court intervention.  It enables your clients to hand-pick trusted individuals, and empower them to act on your client’s behalf.  Moreover, it binds the appointed individuals to follow a specific set of instructions designed to meet your client’s stated goals and objectives. 

Generally, the areas of “lifetime control” addressed by estate planning can be broken down into three fairly distinct areas:  (1) control over financial, legal and property matters; (2) control over personal health care and medical matters; and (3) control over the care and nurturing of minor children and other dependents.