Estate Planning
Your personalized estate plan can include
several different planning tools, depending on your particular needs. However crafted, your estate plan will serve
as an essential guide for your representatives.
Wills: A Will determines who receives a person’s property at death. A Will can will name an estate representative, and can also be used to appoint a guardian to care for minor children.
Trusts: A trust can be used for a variety of purposes: to transfer property without the need for an expensive and time-consuming probate; to establish a streamlined method to transfer financial management in the event the original trustor can no longer serve as his or her own trustee; to direct how property is distributed over time to family members or different generations; and to help reduce estate and generation skipping tax liability.
Durable Powers of Attorney: A power of attorney provides authority to the "agent" or "attorney in fact" to handle financial matters for another individual (the principal). A power of attorney can be broad or limited, and can be drafted to apply to only specific transactions or where the principal is unable to act.
Advanced Health Care Directive: Also known as a Living Will, a health care directive allows an individual to appoint an agent who will make health care decisions for him or her in the event the individual is unable to do so. It also allows the individual to state his wishes as far as medical and end of life care.
Estate Administration
Estate administration involves the process of transferring a decedent's assets as directed in his or her estate plan. This process is best undertaken with the help of an attorney, in order to maximize the value of the estate and comply with the necessary legal and financial requirements.
Guardianships and Conservatorships
Guardians are appointed by a court to provide for the general care and day to day needs of individuals who are determined to be unable to care for themselves. Conservators are appointed to make financial decisions for an individual whom the court has found to lack the capacity to do so. An attorney can represent clients to establish, modify or terminate a conservatorship or guardianship.
Elder Care, Public Benefits and Special Needs Planning
Elder care and special needs planning can involve a variety of tools, from creating a family care contract that compensates a caregiving family member, to establishing a special needs trust that provides for the beneficiaries' future care while preserving their access to benefits, to planning for eligibility for public benefits while preserving resources. As our population ages, and health care costs spiral, planning for the care of our elders and other dependent adults has become an increasingly important part of the estate planning process.
Wills: A Will determines who receives a person’s property at death. A Will can will name an estate representative, and can also be used to appoint a guardian to care for minor children.
Trusts: A trust can be used for a variety of purposes: to transfer property without the need for an expensive and time-consuming probate; to establish a streamlined method to transfer financial management in the event the original trustor can no longer serve as his or her own trustee; to direct how property is distributed over time to family members or different generations; and to help reduce estate and generation skipping tax liability.
Durable Powers of Attorney: A power of attorney provides authority to the "agent" or "attorney in fact" to handle financial matters for another individual (the principal). A power of attorney can be broad or limited, and can be drafted to apply to only specific transactions or where the principal is unable to act.
Advanced Health Care Directive: Also known as a Living Will, a health care directive allows an individual to appoint an agent who will make health care decisions for him or her in the event the individual is unable to do so. It also allows the individual to state his wishes as far as medical and end of life care.
Estate Administration
Estate administration involves the process of transferring a decedent's assets as directed in his or her estate plan. This process is best undertaken with the help of an attorney, in order to maximize the value of the estate and comply with the necessary legal and financial requirements.
Guardianships and Conservatorships
Guardians are appointed by a court to provide for the general care and day to day needs of individuals who are determined to be unable to care for themselves. Conservators are appointed to make financial decisions for an individual whom the court has found to lack the capacity to do so. An attorney can represent clients to establish, modify or terminate a conservatorship or guardianship.
Elder Care, Public Benefits and Special Needs Planning
Elder care and special needs planning can involve a variety of tools, from creating a family care contract that compensates a caregiving family member, to establishing a special needs trust that provides for the beneficiaries' future care while preserving their access to benefits, to planning for eligibility for public benefits while preserving resources. As our population ages, and health care costs spiral, planning for the care of our elders and other dependent adults has become an increasingly important part of the estate planning process.