Wednesday, January 27, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
17
Wills and trusts spell out wishes
By Sue Stafford
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Partners In Care
also has home-health
services. Hospice care assists
not only the patient but the family
as well, helping them to understand
the end-of-life process and provid-
ing emotional support, as well as
comfort care for the patient in their
own home.
Partners In Care has an in-patient
Hospice House that offers up to five
days of respite care if the patient
needs more aggressive pain man-
agement or if family members need
a few days break from caregiving.
(See story on new Hospice House,
page 1.)
With a wide range of resources
and services and a close-knit com-
munity, Sisters is one of the best
places you can find to live the late
years of your life to their fullest.
KP
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To prepare the legal documents
needed for the end of life, John
Myers, a Sisters attorney, can offer the
guidance needed to prepare a will, or
if wanted, to establish a trust. Myers
outlined for The Nugget the differ-
ence between the two instruments
used for passing on an inheritance.
In Oregon, if someone dies, their
estate goes through the probate court
process of transferring their assets. If
they have a will, the court looks to the
will to see where the assets are sup-
posed to go. If they have no will, the
Oregon Statutes, Chapter 112, come
into play. Depending on whether the
person had children with a surviving
spouse, or from another relationship,
their surviving spouse is entitled to
some and also the children. If there is
no surviving spouse or children, then
to parents, then siblings, then nieces
and nephews, and so on.
Probate can be a good thing
because the court is overseeing the
transfer of assets to the people you
have chosen (with a will) or to the
people the state thinks you would
choose (without will). The probate
process is time consuming (usually
between six months to a year) and
expensive (between $6,000-$9,000
in attorney fees and court costs). The
probate court process is also public;
any person can go to the courthouse
and see who you left your assets
to and how much it was all worth.
The people chosen to be in charge
will have to work with an attorney
through the process.
If you set up a trust, your estate
avoids this process and the person
you name to be in charge can take
over the handling of the assets with-
out any court involvement and the
information remains private. It usu-
ally takes less time for administration
with a trust.
Even if you have few
assets, if you want
to avoid the
probate
process and make it easier on your
loved ones, creating a trust can help
to achieve this. A trust can also help
to plan for incapacity. If you have a
trust and something happens to you,
leaving you alive but incapacitated,
the person you have named as your
trustee can manage your assets for
you.
Oregon does not allow for holo-
graphic wills (handwritten). There is
a statute that allows for a handwritten
will to stand if proven by clear and
convincing evidence that the author
intended the writing to be their will.
Myers indicated that proving it to be
a will is time consuming and expen-
sive and is only intended
to be utilized as a
last resort.
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/PORTFOLIO/EBSTOCK
Partners In Care
After nearly 20 years providing inpatient care in
a six-bed unit, Partners In Care is constructing a
new 12-bed Hospice House on its campus in Bend
in order to meet the healthcare needs of a growing
population.
Hospice House is designed to care for hospice
patients with the most acute end-of-life needs or who
will benefit from a short stay to provide respite for
family members. The spacious suites will accommo-
date patients in a homelike setting while they receive
24/7 care.
Hospice House is the only specialty hospi-
tal of its kind in Oregon east of the Cascades.
Partners In Care serves hundreds of patients each
day in their homes and care facilities. Core ser-
vice lines include Home Health, Transitions,
Palliative Care, and Grief Support in addition to
Hospice.
Information about the new Hospice House, and a
video featuring three patient stories can be viewed at
www.PartnersBend.org/campaign.
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