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Should You Update Your Estate Plan After a Car Crash?
Should you update your estate plan after a car crash?
by sushmitha.p@thomsonreuters.com | Jan 4, 2022 | Car Accident Injuries
Sometimes, the severity of a car crash catches people off-guard. They are left with serious injuries and, sometimes, new, lifelong disabilities.
After you get injured, it is important to seek medical care and to get all types of help that you need. Something else to consider once you settle your case is to go back and adjust your estate plan.
Why update your estate plan after a crash?
One of the reasons to update your estate plan is because you’ve just been through a major, life-changing event. You may have a large sum of money that you want to protect from your personal injury settlement, and changing your estate plan may give you an avenue to do so.
Updating your estate plan will also allow you to change your decisions on things like medical care or who your power of attorney agents are. Stress tends to bring out either the best or worst in people, so after going through a major emergency, you may have a better idea of who you want handling your estate when you are incapacitated or pass away.
If you were temporarily incapacitated after your injury and didn’t have a health care proxy in place, now is a good time to address that. When you don’t have someone there to make health care decisions for you, it’s possible for the decisions that are made to be different than what you would have liked. Now is a good time to update your medical preferences and to make sure that you have someone you trust listed as your health care power of attorney.
Updating your estate plan will also allow you to start looking into long-term care planning, such as assisted-living options or in-home health care, while considering your new injuries or disabilities. This will make sure you get the right attention and care when you’re older or need help in the future.
The emotional stress of a car accident can be overwhelming. Once you are medically stable and have settled your case, it’s time to look at ways to protect yourself and your family in the future. Estate planning allows you to do that.