How can I protect my estate if I become mentally incapacitated?

As you are making your estate plans in Colorado, you should be sure to include some kind of protections for yourself to offer you some recourse if you become disabled or mentally incapacitated. As you are pondering your options, you may also be wondering how you can protect your estate if that situation arises. Being mentally incapacitated can result in guardianship and impact your ability to make decisions regarding your care, estate and assets, and may render your final wishes useless. There are ways you can protect your estate plans and end of life wishes if you lose the mental capacity to remain in charge of your situation.

According to the Balance, you may be able to benefit from establishing a revocable living trust. There are three provisions you should include to make this plan an efficient one. First, you need to provide protection for any assets that you have that are not included or owned by your trust, such as a Durable Power of Attorney. These assets generally include 401ks, IRAs and life insurance.

Next, your trust needs to be specific in its instructions detailing what should happen if you become mentally incapacitated. Its language should clearly outline what actions can be taken to manage all assets that are included in the trust. It should also spell out the specific behaviors and conditions that must be satisfied to classify you as mentally incompetent. Last, to avoid having any of your assets put into conservatorship or guardianship, you should make sure that your trust contains all of your assets.

There are other ways you can protect your assets if you lose your mental capacity to manage them yourself. However, those options have their own stipulations and require you to have a better understanding of them before you can consider them. You should consider working with an advisor for options that are pertinent to your specific situation.