Estate Planning
A New Approach to Estate Planning
People are living longer than ever before, and the odds of a major medical situation is more likely every year that passes. A modern family barely resembles that of fifty (50) years or more. So why would we try to protect our families with practices from 50 years ago and more? Families are discovering too late that the estate plan that was supposed to protect them actually can cause what they tried to protect against. We have been there. It can feel like swimming in stormy seas, hoping your life-preserver holds.
A modern approach to estate planning is the opposite of cookie-cutter. We are here to be a trusted resource to you, a relationship for the long-term. Our planning process is detailed, thorough, and deeply personal. The better we understand your situation, the more effectively we can identify pitfalls and craft your plan around what’s most important to you. And when the law changes or your situation evolves, we are here to make sure your precious resource are protected as well as possible.
A Modern Estate Plan
- Helps ensure your wishes are carried out without interference
- Ensures your unique family circumstances are taken into account
- Considers your healthcare requirements and costs
- Protects your estate from the implications of probate
Our Philosophy
We want to have a lifelong relationship with our clients. We are here, not only during the good times, but by your side through the difficult times as well. Change is the one constant of life. We will be here to advise and guide you and your family about your estate through the twists and turns.
Building Strategy
There are many legal strategies involved in estate planning, including wills, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, and advance directives, as well as other health care documents. We will help you leverage these as tools for your best advantage.
Your Plan, not the State’s
New clients often say that they do not have an estate plan, but people are surprised to learn that they actually do have a plan. In the absence of legal planning otherwise, their estate will be distributed after death according to state laws of intestacy or without a Will. And it is guaranteed that this is not the plan you or your family would have chosen.
A properly drafted estate plan will replace ALL the terms of the State’s estate plan with your wishes. Let’s get started on the process to create your best options in an estate plan that can endure.
Our Estate Planning Process
Discover &
Assessment
Design
Strategy
Document
Creation
Review &
Transfer
Ongoing
Monitoring
Your Last Will and Testament
Your last will and testament is just one part of a comprehensive estate plan. If a person dies without a Will they are said to have died “intestate” and state laws will determine how and to whom the person’s assets will be distributed. Some things you should know about wills:
- A will has no legal authority until after death. Unfortunately, a Will does not help manage a person’s affairs when they are incapacitated, whether by illness or injury.
- A will does not help an estate avoid probate. A will is the legal document submitted to the probate court, so it is basically an “admission ticket” to probate.
- A will is a good place to nominate the guardians (or back-up parents) of your minor children if they are orphaned. All parents of minor children should document their choice of guardians. If you leave this to chance, you could be setting up a family battle royal, and your children could end up with the wrong guardians.
Trusts: Revocable Living Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts, Testamentary Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, Etc.
Trusts come in many “flavors,” they can be simple or complex, and serve a variety of legal, personal, investment or tax planning purposes. At the most basic level, a trust is a legal entity with at least three parties involved: the trust-maker, the trustee (trust manager), and the trust beneficiary. Oftentimes, all three parties are represented by one person or a married couple. In the case of a revocable living trust, for example, a person may create a trust (the trust-maker) and name themselves the current trustees (trust managers) who manage the trust assets for their own benefit (trust beneficiary).
Depending on the situation, there may be many advantages to establishing a trust, including avoiding probate court. In most cases, assets owned in a revocable living trust will pass to the trust beneficiaries (or heirs) immediately upon the death of the trust-maker(s) with no probate required. Certain trusts also may result in tax advantages both for the trust-maker and the beneficiary. Or they may be used to protect property from creditors, or simply to provide for someone else to manage and invest property for the trust-maker(s) and the named beneficiaries. If well drafted, another advantage of trusts is their continuing effectiveness even if the trust-maker dies or becomes incapacitated. Reach out to our estate planning lawyers to find out if you and your family could benefit from establishing a trust.
Powers of Attorney
Health Care Documents (or Advance Directives)
An advance directive is a document that specifies the type of medical and personal care you would want should you lose the ability to make and communicate your own decisions. Anyone over the age of 18 may execute an advance directive, and this document is legally binding. Your advance directive can specify who will make and communicate decisions for you, and it can set out the circumstances under which you would not like your life to be prolonged if, for example, you were in a coma with no reasonable chance of recovery.
A document that goes hand-in-hand with your advance directive is an authorization to your medical providers to allow specified individuals to access your medical information. Without this authorization, your doctor may refuse to communicate with your hand-picked decision maker.