Assisting Clients Throughout the Estate Planning Process

Pondering matters like our own mortality and what will happen to our family members after we are gone is a subject matter that none of us ever wants to spend much time thinking about. However, if you do not take the time to establish a legally valid estate plan today, your loved ones could face several difficulties in the event of your death later on.

Estate plans are vitally important to protecting your legacy and your loved ones today and into tomorrow. With thorough estate planning, you not only have more control over your finances and investments, but you can also spare a family member certain expenses, delays in the probate process, and frustration associated with closing your estate when you die. However, estate plans are not only about death. Other estate planning documents can help you control and manage your assets while you are still alive and shield them from creditors and collectors.

None of us wants to spend much time thinking about the end of our lives. But it is important to consider how those who survive us will handle each estate matter and whether we can make things easier for them and potentially minimize taxes and other expenses. By taking a little bit of time to establish an estate plan today, you save yourself and your loved ones untold amounts of money, time, and frustration tomorrow.

Chad Brown Law is a law firm dedicated to providing compassionate and helpful legal representation to clients interested in estate plan matters such as wills, trusts, guardianship, and more. Schedule a free estate planning consultation with our legal team today to begin discussing your personal goals for your estate plan. We look forward to speaking with you.

What is Estate Planning?

There is a misconception that estate planning only deals with the distribution of property and assets upon the event of an individual’s passing, but estate plans can accomplish several other goals, many of them achievable during your lifetime.

With a power of attorney, you can name an individual or entity to handle your financial affairs if you ever become incapacitated due to illness or injury. Similarly, you may name a healthcare proxy to handle your medical care if you are ever incapacitated or disabled. Without these estate plan documents in place, your family members and loved ones may be left scrambling, not sure of what to do if you are unfortunately unable to speak for yourself.

While most beneficiaries think about obtaining their inheritance when someone dies, there is a way to provide assets to a beneficiary during your lifetime as well. This can be accomplished by establishing the right kind of trust. Trusts can also help avoid probate and minimize estate taxes.

If you are young parents, you may want to consider what should happen to your minor children if you suffer an untimely death. By naming a guardian, you can rest assured that your children will be cared for by the individuals you intend, instead of leaving this decision up to the courts.

Elder law and Medicaid planning also figure into estate planning, as you may wish to plan for nursing home care and other long-term care for your twilight years.

What Are Essential Estate Planning Documents?

Several different types of estate planning tools may benefit you and your family’s situation. Our estate planning services include the drafting and reviewing of various estate planning documents.

Examples include:
• Last Will and Testament.
• A durable power of attorney.
• Healthcare power of attorney and advance healthcare directives.
• Living wills.
• Irrevocable trusts.
• Revocable living trusts.
• Special needs trust.
• Asset protection trusts.
• Guardianship.
• And more.

Do You Need a Last Will and Testament?

A will is perhaps the most essential part of every estate plan and the most common estate planning document in America. If a person dies without a will, they are said to die intestate. When individuals die intestate, the distribution of their property and the closing of their estate will be handled according to state laws. That means that if you do not have a will, the state gets to decide who gets what, and you will not have control over how your assets are distributed or who your beneficiaries are. In most cases, the surviving spouse will recover all or most of the remaining estate, including the primary residence of the family.

It is also important to routinely update your will occasionally, as you may need to name beneficiaries who enter your life or remove certain individuals from the will in cases of death or divorce.

How to Plan for the Possibility of Incapacitation?

If you ever become incapacitated, you will not be able to handle your financial affairs or decide on your medical care. There is an assumption that your spouse or adult children will automatically have the right to take over these matters in the event of incapacity, but this is not always the case. Often, family members must petition the court to declare you legally incompetent so they can gain financial or medical authority over your affairs. This process can take a long time.

If you want to ensure that your family members have the authority to take over for you in the event of incapacity immediately, you need to establish a durable power of attorney and a health care directive.

Do You Need Legal Assistance with Estate Litigation?

It is not uncommon for a dispute to arise against the named executor, the estate administrator, or the estate planning documents themselves. Estate litigation can occur during your lifetime or after you have passed away and can cause great strife for your family.

To limit the chances of disputes arising, estate plans must be carefully created and administration must be done according to the wishes of the estate’s creator. Whether you seek to defend the estate plan as written or are challenging the estate plan on the grounds that you feel that you were wrongly denied assets in a will or trust, our legal team would be proud to lend Assistance.

Schedule a Free Consultation with an Experienced Estate Planning Attorney Today

An experienced estate planning lawyer can be invaluable to the creator of an estate plan, their designated trustee, named beneficiaries, and just about everyone involved in the estate plan process. Our legal services are widely varied, and we would be proud to lend legal assistance to you and your family members as you seek to establish, revise, or challenge an estate plan.

Schedule your free case evaluation today. 336-962-5373.