Estate Planning

  - Wills & Trusts

ESTATE PLANNING

With the proper estate planning you can ensure that your assets are preserved for your children and grandchildren, or favorite charities and you can ensure that your assets are protected from creditors.  We will review each asset you own and what your goals are for those assets.  We will review your family dynamics and how that interacts with your desired distribution of your assets.  We will also review potential creditors to ensure that your assets are well protected.  Once we have reviewed all of your information we will put an estate plan together to best meet your needs.  The estate plan can be as simple as preparing a Will to dispose of your property to various Trusts to meet your individual needs to a Family Limited Partnership.  With our expertise, we are able to assemble any estate plan necessary, regardless of the size of the estate, to preserve and protect your assets.

WILLS

A Will provides instruction on how you would like your property to be disposed of when you die. It also allows you to name a Personal Representative who will ensure your property is properly disposed of under the terms of your Will.

ESTATE PLANNING TOOLS

There exist many estate planning tools. We will review each client’s circumstances to determine which estate planning tool is best for them.  Proper estate planning can be used to accomplish a reduction or elimination of the estate tax, protecting your assets for your children and grandchildren, protecting your assets from creditors and protecting any children or spouses with disabilities.   These estate planning tools range from various types of trusts used for asset protection and creditor protection, to Supplemental Needs Trusts so as to not interrupt any government benefits necessary for yourself, your spouse or child, to a yearly gifting program in an effort to reduce your estate, to Family Limited Partnerships, just to name a few.

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS

For each Estate Plan and Will we prepare we may include the preparation of the following documents:

A Statutory Durable Power of Attorney is a document wherein, while you are of sound mind, you name an individual to take care of your finances when you are not able to because of a disability or incapacity.  Another circumstance which may necessitate this document is if you are leaving town for an extended period of time and someone will have to take care of your finances for the time you are away. 

A Power of Attorney for Health Care is a document wherein, while you are of sound mind, you name an individual to make medical decisions on your behalf when you are not able to because of a disability or incapacity.  This individual will not have the authority to decide whether to keep you on any life sustaining device.  The document that addresses that issue is known as a Directive to Physician also known as a “living will.”

A Directive to Physician is a document wherein, while you are of sound mind, you are making the decision which life sustaining treatments you want continued or discontinued, if upon the opinion of your physicians, you are suffering from an irreversible condition or terminal condition. 

A HIPPA Authorization Form is a document wherein you are giving your authority to medical care providers, i.e. hospitals and doctors, to release your medical records to certain individuals you specifically name.

A Designation of Guardian is a document wherein, while you are of sound mind, you are selecting who you want to serve as your guardian and/or who you do not want to serve as your guardian should the need ever arise.

We review each client’s individual needs to determine which of these documents are recommended.  In addition, we discuss each of these documents with you so that you are only signing those documents that accomplish your goals and needs, and which you feel comfortable signing.

Should you need immediate assistance with your legal matter, please call us at (214) 559-7202, (866) 559-7202, or e-mail us.