Are you planning to travel again? During the past year’s health precautions, many people realized the importance of getting their estate plan in order and created or updated their will, and created an advance healthcare directive to protect their loved ones if they become ill. Now that vaccination rates are up and travel restrictions are lessening, people are starting to plan trips to visit loved ones and summer vacations to get away from home for a while.
Are your family and loved ones protected if something happens to you while you’re traveling? Here are 3 estate planning travel must-dos to add to your pre-travel checklist.
1. Review Your Estate Plan
Does your will or trust need to be updated? Do your beneficiaries need to be updated? Make sure your estate planning documents are organized, digitized, and in a safe place that your family or friends can access if something happens to you while traveling.
2. Create Health Care Proxy
If you become incapacitated, who do you trust to make your health care decisions? If you don’t appoint a health care proxy and aren’t married, the courts will assign someone to make your medical decisions – and it may not be a person you trust. A Healthcare Power of Attorney is a durable power of attorney, a legal device that allows one person to indefinitely make decisions on behalf of another.
3. Get Your Digital Assets in Order
Do you have digital assets or cryptocurrency? Until recently, there weren’t good guidelines for what happens to your digital assets after you die – the technology was too new. And data privacy laws protect your electronic data from being handed over to someone else for fear of criminal activity. Providers did not want to grant anyone access to your accounts out of fear they would be held liable for any scams or criminal activity committed that you did not authorize. Read our Digital Asset Estate Planning Guidelines.
Enjoy your travels with peace of mind: make sure your estate plan is updated and accurate before you travel!
Protect your loved ones while you’re traveling by consulting an experienced estate planning lawyer who can advise you on the best options for your situation. To talk to a qualified estate planning attorney in Chicago or Lombard, contact the Estate & Probate Legal Group at 630-864-5835.
We serve Cook, Dupage, Kane, Lake, and Will counties.
