Times are tough in America right now. Our nation is facing a pandemic, protests, and political strife. In California, we also face devastating wildfires on a yearly basis.

In all of these crises, it is our first responders – our police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics – who are on the front lines, risking their own safety to ensure that of others.

Given how things are going right now, estate planning is especially urgent for first responders. Just as you serve the community, we aim to serve you by helping you craft an estate plan, and in this article, we will tell you a bit more about why and how to do that.

 

What Kinds of Risks Do You Face as a First Responder?

The first, and most direct, risk that first responders face involves dying while on the job. The probability of this is tragically high. To give just a few examples:

• So far this year, around 150 police officers have been killed in the line of duty.
• In 2019, 48 firefighters were killed – a decrease from previous years.

Of course, police officers and firefighters usually don’t just serve for one year, and these numbers stack up quickly. If you add things together, you find that over 1,600 police officers were killed in the past decade.

But while our first responders pay a heavy price for their heroism on the front lines, they often pay an even steeper price months, years, or decades later:

• All types of first responders – police officers, firefighters, and EMTs alike – face very high rates of stress. First responders have some of the most difficult jobs imaginable, and they are often exposed to the darker side of life in a way that most civilians cannot fully comprehend. Research has found that extreme stress can increase the risk of all sorts of chronic health conditions.
• The effects of stress can be psychological as well as physical, and this can bleed over into all sorts of harmful behaviors, including alcoholism, overeating, drug abuse, and suicide. In fact, far more police officers die of suicide every year than die in the line of duty: that number in 2019 was 228. In the same year, 20 EMTs and paramedics, and 119 firefighters, ended their own lives.

This means that even after the chaos of our current period is over, our first responders may be feelings the impact for years to come.

Sadly, our society does not always give first responders the consideration that they deserve, and so these issues, particularly chronic health problems that occur behind the scenes, often go ignored. A firefighter dying of cancer at 50 does not make headlines in the same way that a firefighter dying fighting a blaze does.

We think that first responders deserve better, and that is why we are committed to helping you craft an estate plan that meets your needs and addresses your unique personal concerns.

Why First Responders Need Estate Plans

As a first responder, you have chosen a risky path. To use an old analogy, you chose to be a sheepdog rather than a sheep or a wolf, to guard the general public rather than stand by and allow catastrophes to happen.

That is why you deserve the security of a strong estate plan, so that you can know that your loved ones will be cared for after you are gone. In fact, creating an estate plan is just one more way of doing what you do every day: helping the people around you.

If you don’t make an estate plan, then the courts will take your assets and distribute them as they see fit, according to a set of legal guidelines. This will typically be an extremely stressful process for your surviving family members, and it is far less likely to get you the results you want.

If you want to ensure that your final wishes are respected, then estate planning is the only way to go.

The Basics of Estate Planning

An estate plan is, simply put, a set of legal documents which specify what will happen to your estate – meaning all the money and other assets you own – after you die or become incapacitated.

Basic instruments of estate planning include:

Wills. A will is the simplest type of estate plan. It is simply a document, signed in front of two witnesses, that instructs the courts on where you want your assets to go.

In your will, you appoint an executor, who will be responsible for carrying out the terms of the will. This is an important position, and should only be given to someone you trust to act both ethically and wisely.

A will goes through probate – a long and complicated court process – before your heirs receive your money. However, probate with a will is still less stressful than probate with no estate planning at all.

If you have minor children, then a will can also allow you to appoint a guardian to take care of their upbringing, and their finances, until they become legal adults.

Trusts. A trust serves the same general purpose as a will, with a couple of differences.

When you create a trust, you have to actively transfer property into the trust. After you have died, a successor trustee will take control of the assets in the trust and distribute them to your beneficiaries, just like the executor of a will would do.

As with an executor, you must choose your successor trustee carefully: it’s not called a trust for nothing!

There are a few reasons why people create trusts, but one big reason is that trusts allow you to skip the process of probate. Probate is long and arduous for the surviving family members involved, and it also makes your assets public. Assets in a trust, however, are not subject to probate at all.

Trusts cost more than wills to initially set up, but they are often worth it in the long run, which is why they have become more and more popular as an estate planning tool in recent decades. In many cases, we recommend clients create a trust. Also, it is not necessarily an either-or; usually, you will create a basic will in addition to your trust.

Preparing for Incapacitation

In addition to facing death, first responders may become incapacitated by illness or injury. Here, too, estate planning can help.

If you don’t plan for someone to take charge of your affairs after you ae incapacitated, then the courts will appoint a conservator to take up this role. You might end up with a conservator who doesn’t have your best interests at heart, or who is well-intentioned but unable to properly care for you.

You cannot appoint a conservator by writing a will. However, you can do so with a trust that allows the trustee to take over if you are incapacitated, or with another type of document called a durable power of attorney.

Why You Should Create an Estate Plan Today

So far, we’ve given you a broad overview of estate planning. There’s a lot more to it, but these are the basics.

Our firm generally recommends that everyone – no matter their age, health status, or line of work – create an estate plan as soon as possible. Tragedy can strike at any moment, even for the young and healthy.

However, our recommendation is particularly urgent for first responders, and especially right now.

We aim to make the estate planning process as quick and easy for you as possible, and also to serve all of the purposes that it is intended to serve. Our firm works holistically to come up with a plan that is right for you and your loved ones, and we do not stop until our clients are satisfied.

We invite you to give us a call and talk to us today. An estate planning consultation with our firm is absolutely free, and there is no commitment involved. We can help you learn more about this often-daunting field, answer any questions you have, and give you advice on what your best course of action may be.