Estate Planning Attorneys & Lawyers

Estate Planning

Creating an estate plan allows you to protect your assets for your family and ensures that you have appointed someone to be responsible for your life if you cannot act.

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REASONS FOR CREATING A WILL

By creating a written, you determine such things as who will receive your assets, who will be the personal representative of your estate, and who will be the guardian for your minor children. If you do not have a will, the state you hold residency in, will decide these things for you, which may not match what you would have wanted.

Determine Your Goals

Different types of trusts accomplish different goals. Do you want to protect assets during your lifetime, reduce the tax implications of your passing, and/or achieve the transfer of assets outside of the probate process?

Choose the Type of Trust

You will need to choose between a revocable and an irrevocable trust. An irrevocable trust provides broader protection for assets but necessitates giving up substantial control.

Identify a Trustee and Beneficiaries

Your trustee will be responsible for the management of trust assets and will have a fiduciary responsibility. Beneficiaries will reap the benefits of trust creation and the assets transferred to the trust will ultimately transfer to beneficiaries or will be used to provide a benefit to them.

Transfer Assets

You will need to go through the process of retitling assets so the trustee becomes the new owner. This can have tax implications so it is important to speak with a CPA to understand the consequences of retitling assets so they belong to the trust instead of to you.

REASONS FOR CREATING A TRUST

A trust is another estate planning technique to determine how your assets will be distributed while you are living and after death. Reasons for setting up a trust include reduction of taxes, avoidance of probate, and delay of distributions to children after age 18. After discussing your individual circumstances and needs, we will develop a personal estate plan to accomplish your goals.