 |
| ID 115389578 © Maksim Prochan | Dreamstime.com |
End-of-Life Care
In a health care power of attorney or Living Will (Advance Directive in some states), you nominate someone to make medical decisions for you in the event you cannot make them yourself. You should select someone who shares your faith and values regarding end-of-life issues or someone who will honor your wishes even if they are do not share your values. In either case, it is important to provide written instructions regarding important decisions like organ donation, pain medication (if you want to remain conscious or be fully sedated at the end of life), hospice arrangements, dementia care, even avoiding care in a specific facility. You may want to be visited by a priest, rabbi or other member of clergy, and if so, should make your wishes in that regard clear. Pregnant women may want to include their preference on medical decisions that would impact the mother and her unborn child.
Funeral and Burial Arrangements
Your faith may inform your views on burial, cremation, autopsy, and preparation of your body for disposition, such as by embalming. Your faith may inform or influence the kind of service you want (or don’t want). Some people pre-plan their funerals and include a list of people to notify (which can be helpful for a grieving family). Some even pre-pay for the funeral and burial plots to prevent their loved ones from overspending out of grief and/or guilt. Regardless, your estate plan should include a written Right of Sepulcher, or Appointment of an Agent for Disposition of your Bodily Remains, Funeral, Cremation, and/or Burial Goods and Services. You should also direct your agent regarding preferred cemetery, cremation provider, or funeral/memorial service provider.
Charitable Giving
Giving to others who are less fortunate is common among people of all faiths. With proper planning, even those with modest estates can make significant final distributions to their church or synagogue, university, hospital or other favorite cause. Not only do gifts or donations at death allow you to continue supporting your favorite charities after you are gone, it will let your family know that giving is important to you – and set an example for your children or other beneficiaries for their own charitable giving.
Organ and tissue donation can also benefit your loved ones: the gift of life and health to others can ease the grief that follows loss, and provide comfort in giving a purpose to death. Organ and tissue donation also can make available grief counselors for those in need. Grief counselling is rarely provided by insurance, but is often provided for free to family members of organ and tissue donation. Lifebanc provides individual grief counseling with a licensed grief therapist for donor families free-of-charge, and can arrange for Lyft rides for those within a 20-mile radius. Individual counseling is also offered via Skype.
Distributions to children and grandchildren
Taking the time to plan how you leave assets to your family lets them know how much you care about them, and is another way to convey your faith values. For example, you can provide for the religious education of your children or grandchildren. If you have younger children, you should nominate a person who shares your religious views to manage their inheritance, or will respect and follow your values. You should consider a letter of instruction to their nominated guardian with your views on the care and upbringing of young children.
Especially if you have minor children, you will want to consider carefully the person you nominate as guardian to rear your children, and consider whether the person you nominate is likely to be be preferred by the legal system. You may be best advised to incentive acceptance of your nomination by third parties and the the legal system with a conditional trust. If you are concerned, seek legal counsel who can navigate these very troubling waters.
If your children are older and you aren’t crazy about a son- or daughter-in-law, your attorney can help you provide for your son or daughter in a way that will prevent your money from falling into the wrong hands. However, be careful about making an inheritance conditional or disinheriting a child or grandchild who marries outside your faith or doesn’t adopt your faith. These restrictions may not be enforceable, and may be ignored by either your decision-maker or the legal system. Discuss with counsel these limitations with an appreciation that you can't force someone to believe as you. Generally, it is better to avoid discord in the family. The emotional scars suffered by a family at emotional, psychological,legal, and economic war are probably not the loved ones.
Conclusion
Transferring your faith and values to your family is best accomplished over time, by letting your family see your faith at work in your life. Your involvement in religious services, charitable work, and simple treatment of others speak volumes. It’s never too late, and it's never a bad idea to speak to those with whom you may not have the opportunity during your life, such as your unborn heirs. Letting future generations know the bedrock upon which they are based is humbling, connecting, and encouraging. Regardless, speak to your family while you can. Explain what your faith means to you and how it has helped you through the difficult moments of your life. You can also write personal letters or make a video that they can keep and review long after you are gone. Bottom line: the intangibles may be far more valuable than the stuff about which we so often focus in constructing an estate plan;
 |
| ID 60961568 © Marcin Wos | Dreamstime.com |
More:
You can review the Memorandum Regarding Profession of Faith we provide new clients here.
Note: this article was inspired by, and incorporates text and elements from this article.
No comments:
Post a Comment