Estate Planning

Wills are one of the most valuable estate planning tools. It is one of the most cost effective ways to plan and control the distribution of your assets upon your passing. A will is a simple and straightforward document that indicates to whom each of your assets goes and can be drafted to meet your specific needs. A will allows you to decide how your probate will be administered and distributed upon your death. Having a will in place drastically reduces the potential for litigation and the costs involved with a probate member for your family members after you have passed.

If there is no will present upon death it will be left to the court to determine what your intent was, if any, and how to administer those assets pursuant to the applicable state intestacy laws. If the court is unable to locate your beneficiaries and no will exists it is very possible that all of your assets will be claimed by the state.

A trust, is a written agreement that names a trustee, an individual, to be responsible for managing your property for the benefit of others. A trust can be operative both during your life time and may continue in effect after your death. In most cases, you can be the Trustee of your Trust during your lifetime. This will allow you to retain control over all of your assets that are placed into the trust. The primary purposes of a trust are to avoid probate, allow for the expeditious distribution of assets, and to reduce or eliminate estate and inheritance tax liability.

A power of attorney appoints an individual to act as your agent should you be unable to do so. There are several types of powers of attorney that can be granted. The most common types of power of attorney are a health care power of attorney and a durable financial power of attorney. A health care power of attorney is utilized by your physicians, health care providers and hospitals if you are unable to make decisions for yourself and informs them of whom is designated as your representative to make important healthcare decisions and to what extent. A durable financial power of attorney is used to provide the same protection in terms of managing your financial affairs.