Edmond Estate Planning Lawyers Help Residents Prepare For Travel

It is easy to wake up and go to sleep at night without thinking about what happens if you do not wake up. But leaving for a longer trip helps put our life into perspective, especially when we are older. Suddenly, we have to ask ourselves, what if I do not make it back? And while chances are that you will, do you really want to take the risk? Or struggle to fall asleep in some unfamiliar bed, stressed about what might happen if you do not.

Travel has, after all, long been a metaphor for the more permanent departure we all must face one day. Even as we inevitably move on, the wealth and assets we have accumulated over a lifetime of hard work do not, and nor do the people we love and care about.

Finishing your estate plan before you go is a gift both to yourself, in terms of peace of mind, and to those you care for. After all, if you do not make it back, the last thing you want is to add the chaos and cost of an unplanned inheritance to the grief and loss they are already enduring.

Three Reasons To Finish Your Estate Plan Before You Leave Edmond

Just as Edmond has been cementing the history of the city and state in bronze to ensure it is passed on to the next generation, estate planning allows you to preserve what you have built and pass on what matters to those you care for.

While travel is, in the vast majority of cases, just the excuse you need to get it done before it is too late, things can happen during travel that makes estate planning a priority now while you are at home.

The Small Risk With Big Cost: Coming Home In A Casket

The odds of dying while traveling are small; less than 1 in 100,000 tourists dies while abroad. While some countries and activities are obviously more dangerous than others, most of these deaths are from similar dangers to those you face every day in Edmond. Indeed, natural causes make up the majority of the deaths, while road accidents or travel accidents account for a sizeable portion of the rest.

That said, according to national and international health statistics, traveling does increase your risks. Foreign environments, rules, and behaviors can increase the risk of car accidents, and new pathogens can prove more effective against our immune systems.

So there is a very real risk, even if it is small, and for the 1 in 100,000 who do not make it back to Edmond and their families, the low odds do nothing to comfort them. Knowing that their loved one planned ahead and ensured their safety and financial stability does, however.

Why take the risk without at least planning for the worst? Well, even if you do like to roll the dice, you need to remember that death is not the only risk.

Incapacitation And Medical Emergencies

Dying may be uncommon, but medical emergencies are far more frequent, and some of those can leave you at least temporarily unable to make decisions or take action. Being incapacitated at any point is bad enough, but being incapacitated while traveling is the stuff of family horror stories and nightmares.

An estate plan includes documents that help cover such eventualities, however. Powers of attorney can give a trusted family member the ability to send or spend money for your care or safe return, and medical powers of attorney can ensure your healthcare preferences are followed, even thousands of miles from your home.

If you are incapacitated while traveling and did not take the time to prepare such documents and fail safes ahead of time, it is too late to do so. Working with a local Edmond lawyer before you go can help you prepare these and other estate planning documents so that even a temporary incapacitation does not spell disaster.

After all, you don’t want to have to haggle with a foreign lawyer or legal system if something dramatic does arise far from home.

Access To A local Estate Planning Attorney

Anyone who has gotten into legal trouble or been the victim of a crime while traveling knows how harrowing it can be to interact with an unfamiliar legal system abroad. The same is doubly true when life or death are on the line.

If you fall ill or are badly hurt outside Oklahoma, your only option for speaking to a lawyer who can actually help may be an online conversation. Worse still, sitting in a European hospital bed, it will be hard to sign the estate planning documents a lawyer could have brought you in person within hours in an Edmond hospital bed.

Even if you are able to reach an attorney who can help in time and despite the time zones, they may not be able to do anything without the relevant documents and deeds sitting securely at home in your file cabinet or safe.

The best time to reach out to a local estate planning attorney is not while traveling abroad; it is here, and it is now.

Planning A Trip? Reach Out To An Estate Planning Attorney Near You Before leaving Edmond

Legal Advantage Group| Our team of Oklahoma estate planning lawyers can ensure your peace of mind while you travel outside Edmond.

Once your plane takes off, it will be all but impossible to do any meaningful estate planning. This is why you should reach out to a local estate planning law firm today, not tomorrow.

You can plan a travel itinerary in advance because you know when you will be leaving Edmond and for how long. But none of us know when we are leaving, so it is easy to put off the planning. Let your travel plans be the catalyst you need to take steps to care for those you leave behind while you still can.

Call (405) 449-5777 to set up a free consultation to discuss your estate plan and ensure it is travel-ready or to start working on one so that if you do leave, temporarily or permanently, your affairs will be in order and your loved ones cared for.