Vacations can be the perfect opportunity to relax, disconnect from work and responsibilities, and enjoy your family and friends. But before you head off on your next getaway, there’s something else you should consider doing that might not sound quite as fun—creating an estate plan. While it may not sound like the most thrilling way to spend a day, here are some reasons why you need to think about your estate plans before you travel.

• An estate plan ensures any medical decisions needed while away from home will be handled according to your wishes, and with as much ease as possible, no matter what the rules are where something happens. If you fall ill or become injured and can’t make medical decisions for yourself, your estate plan will ensure that decisions will be made by the person you choose, and your wishes are documented. 
  
  
• Without an estate plan in place, your family or friends could have a heavy lift to get you back home, locate your assets, keep your bills paid, and to ensure your children are taken care of by the right people, in the right way.
   
  
• Lastly, an estate plan ensures that any debts or liabilities are taken care of properly in case something happens while on vacation. This can help your loved ones that you’ve chosen to act on your behalf and can even prevent creditors from trying to collect from surviving family members after the fact.

Yes, Even Married Couples Need an Estate Plan

You might think that because you are married, you don’t need an estate plan. Or you might even think your Will is enough and would just handle everything.  In our experience, that’s generally not the case and most people are unaware of what their spouse will have to do, put up with, or pay if something should happen to them. Not to mention, there’s a big difference if they are seriously injured and incapacitated, or if they died.  

Even if you are married, you still need medical powers of attorney, making it clear that you want your spouse to make medical decisions for you, or potentially adding in additional decision-makers. You still want a Living Will to give clarity on how you want medical decisions made for you.

Finally, if you have young children, you want to ensure you’ve made it as easy as possible for their care to be continued by the people you want, in the way you want. Without a plan in place, decisions around their care could be tied up in court for months, including access to the financial assets their caregivers would need to ensure they have what they need along the way. Not to mention, they would be left with no guidance from you on how you wanted your children to be raised, including how you would want them to be cared for, your preferences on financial decisions that will need to be made, and your wishes on the many important decisions that will shape your children’s lives.  

The Benefits of Working With an Attorney

While you can create an estate plan without legal assistance, there are serious risks to the people you love, if your plan is not completed properly, not updated after it’s been done, or if don’t address all of the issues and various forms that you should be including in your plan. The only real way to guarantee your plan will work for the people you love and give you the peace of mind that you are looking for is to work with an experienced attorney specializing in estate planning, and particularly Life & Legacy Planning. As a Personal Family Lawyer®, we understand what needs to go into a thorough and complete estate plan — as well as the potential pitfalls or issues that could arise due to your unique personal and family dynamics — so you can rest assured knowing everything is being taken care of properly before you embark on your trip.

During our process, we will educate on all of the important and necessary documents that need to be created, such as other Wills, Trusts, powers of attorney (POA), health care directives (HCD), and guardianship paperwork (for minor children), so you can weigh your options and make informed decisions based on what you want to have happen if you become incapacitated or die. All these items should be considered when creating an effective estate plan — especially when one or both parents will be traveling outside their home state or country.

Don't Let a Lack of Planning Ruin Your Vacation!

Taking a few simple, yet critically important steps now can save you and your family considerable headaches down the road if anything were ever to happen while traveling. Not only do we want you to enjoy each moment spent together as a family, but we want you to have the peace of mind knowing that whatever comes your way, it will be handled as you would have wanted!



We can help put a plan together now so that life doesn’t get in the way, and you forget to complete this important task before packing up for your next adventure. Regardless of whether you are traveling in the next few weeks, or months, we’ll be happy to work on your timetable to create a plan that suits your needs before you leave. Getting your affairs in order will allow you to travel without worrying about the what-ifs. Instead, you can truly enjoy those special moments with confidence and certainty because you know that your family will be protected and cared for in the way you would have wanted, regardless of what the future holds. 

This article is a service of Family Wealth & Legacy Legal Solutions (FWLLS). We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make educated, informed and empowered decisions for yourself and the people you love. That's why we offer a Family Wealth & Legacy Strategy Session™, during which you will get educated and begin to prepare to avoid life’s most common legal problems and get a plan in place to make the best possible choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth & Legacy Strategy Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at a significantly discounted rate, or even for free.