Idaho Estate Planning for the Baby Boomer

For over 70 years our team of Idaho estate planning attorneys has assisted clients in creating their own customized Idaho estate plans. The goal behind doing this is to solve each client's individual problems and to make sure that there estate planning will protect them during their own lifetime and meet their needs of providing for their loved ones after they pass away.

We consider our team of Idaho estate planning attorneys to be the premier Idaho estate planning Law Firm. At the Racine law offices we use a team approach which includes partners Randy Budge, and Lane Erickson and attorneys Nate Palmer and Dave Bagley to complete each client estate plan. The attorneys on our team are each skilled and experienced in helping clients understand and solve any of their estate planning problems or concerns.

For baby boomers, most of whom will be entering retirement age within the next few years, completing a customized estate plan is more important now than ever. Here are some specific things that any individual who fits into the baby boomer generation should consider when it comes to their Idaho estate planning.

People who fall into the baby boomer generation are between the ages of 58 to 78 as of 2018. As was mentioned above, these individuals are either already retired or are approaching the time to consider retirement. The problem is many baby boomers have procrastinated in getting their estate planning done. In fact, many recent studies have found that most baby boomers, about 72%, have not completed any sort of estate planning at all.

Frankly, the time to act is now. It is not difficult to get a basic estate plan completed. We recommend that you speak with a qualified estate planning attorney and that you get at least basic estate plan which would include the last will and testament, a durable power of attorney, a living will, and a power of attorney for health care. These basic estate planning documents can provide all the protection for you that you need during your life, and will give you the ability to make decisions about who should get your money, and assets after you die.

As mentioned above, a durable power of attorney is one of the basic documents that is included in estate planning. The importance of this document cannot be overstated. A durable power of attorney is designed to give you the ability to name someone who can handle all your daily affairs for you if you suddenly become unable to do so yourself. This is important because it can save you and your family a good deal of money, as well as avoid disagreements and family fights.

In Idaho, every adult has an estate which includes everything that they own and everything that they owe. Idaho law states that if an adult loses the capacity, or the ability, to handle their own daily life affairs, then a legal guardian must be appointed for them through the Idaho court system. This process is called a guardianship proceedings, and it is expensive. Additionally, not everyone in your family may agree on who should be appointed as your guardian. This can lead to family fights and lengthy litigation.

By having a complete durable power of attorney as a part of your Idaho estate plan you are given the ability to name whoever you want as your power of attorney. This individual then has the authority without having to go through a court proceeding, to take care of your finances, property, creditors, as well as any other daily life actions that you normally take care of yourself. For this reason, at a minimum every baby boomer should have their own estate plan which includes a durable power of attorney.

With the recent changes in the tax law, the need for a trust in many instances no longer exists. However, many baby boomer older couples may still get some benefits from a trust. By creating a trust and transferring your property into the trust, you will be avoiding the need to do a probate for those items of property after you pass away. If you can transfer your property into a trust and reduce your estate so that it has no real property in it any longer and the value of your estate is lower than $100,000 when you die, then no probate proceedings are required under Idaho law.

Again, with an older couple both of whom may pass away within the next few years, having a trust set up could save the expenses of probate being done for each person. likewise, it's possible that a baby boomer couple may need to have Medicaid assistance for long-term care. There are several trust mechanisms that can be used to assist a couple in completing Medicaid planning.

As was mentioned above, creating a plan for long-term care really ought to be a priority for most baby boomers. As a society we are living longer now than any generation before us has ever lived. While this sounds great, and it is, it also creates new problems. One of these problems is that many individuals need long-term assistance, in the form of living in a retirement home or receiving long-term medical care. These things are not cheap.

Many new financial options are being presented to baby boomers which might be of help. These include long-term disability insurance, annuities, or other financial mechanisms that may have the ability to pay for long-term assistance or medical care. We often recommend that our clients consider these options and review what is available, so they can determine whether any of the options will fit their needs.

Our experienced Estate Planning team of attorneys can help you and your family with your Idaho estate plan or with your probate needs. Whether you are seeking your own customized Estate Plan or are in need of a Probate for a loved one who has passed, we are available to discuss your options and answer your questions at an initial consultation. Call us toll free at 877.232.6101 or 208.232.6101 for a consultation with the Racine Olson team. You can also email us directly at racine@racinelaw.net. We will answer your questions and will help you solve your Idaho Estate Planning and Probate problems.