Estate planning is the process of accumulating and disposing of an estate to maximize the goals of the estate owner. The various goals of estate planning include making sure the greatest amount of the estate passes to the estate owner's intended beneficiaries, often including paying the least amount of taxes and avoiding or minimizing probate court involvement. Additional goals typically include providing for and designating guardians for minor children and planning for incapacitates.
Although no-one likes to think about disability and death, can you afford not to? What are the costs of not engaging in estate planning? Consider the emotional and financial impact. Illness and death often is highly stressful and expensive.
If you have not done any estate planning, your spouse, child or other loved one, often after having had to cope with the stress of your illness and death, would have the additional responsibility of having to sort out your property and debts, make arrangements for the future care and support of family members, make decisions regarding the financial matters and deal with the concerns, complaints, claims and sometimes dissension among family members as to who should get what and who should control the administration and distribution process.
On the financial side, in addition to the delay and the potential substantial legal expense of resolving family disputes, the failure to have an effective estate plan can result in missed opportunities to protect assets and income from various taxes and claims against the estate, lost investment opportunities, and the misappropriation of money and property by various individuals who believe they are entitled.
Why do estate planning? How can estate planning benefit me? You can eliminate or reduce much of the stress that a crisis produces by being prepared. Preparation allows others to know and implement your wishes more effectively, and avoids stress and squabbling among those who want to help.
Protecting one’s assets and providing for loved ones requires planning and understanding of how the law works. Important planning considerations include:
Wills
Living Wills
Powers-of-Attorney
Guardianship
Probate Avoidance
Deed Changes
Estate tax avoidance or reduction
Estate Administration
Family Trusts to care for minors & dependant adults
Orderly administration & distribution of assets
Alternatives to long-term nursing home care
Long-term care eligibility
Protecting the community spouse
Our firm has on staff or professionally partnered with Certified Estate Planners, Financial Planners, CPA's, and Attorneys that specialize in Trusts, Estates, and Guardianship issues. Please contact us to let us know how we may be of assistance, or fill out the simple form below and we will get in touch with you.
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