Estate Planning

Don’t wait until it’s too late to make an informed and educated decision about your estate. Too many people wait until it is too late to draft a will and a plan for the distribution of their estate when they are gone. The best planning begins when you have the legal capacity to do so; if you are disabled or incapacitated when you begin to implement your estate plan, you run the risk of being challenged by someone who asserts that you were incapable at the time that you drafted your estate plan, and this can be a long, tedious and costly endeavor to take on.


YOU SHOULD KNOW: An effective estate plan can nominate a person to have legal authority to make decisions related to your estate, as well as be guardians to minors. At our office, we know too well how important it is for our clients to make sure that they have an effective estate plan in place. We understand that each client has unique goals to be met by their specific estate plan, and that is why we seek to educate the consumer, while making it as simple and stress-free as possible. Our extensive knowledge and experience over the course of 30 years allows us to deal with numerous and varied situations, like:

In a will you specify a personal representative, executor, to carry out how your assets will be distributed to your loved ones after you die. A will can also be used to designate guardians to care for minor children. A will reduces the decision making a court will have during the probate process as you will have already decided on a representative to distribute your assets and a specific plan regarding who will receive your assets.

A durable power of attorney enables you to appoint an agent, a family member, friends, etc., to handle payment of your finances and handling personal affairs in the event you become incapacitated.

Allows you to transfer property into the trust while you continue to manage it during your lifetime. This trust allows you to plan for incapacity.

In an irrevocable trust, property is permanently transferred into the trust and it cannot be altered. These trust can be used to protect assets from creditors and avoid the taxes that are involved in other probate matters as well as carry out carefully crafted long term plans.

We also draft documents for the following:

  • Estate Tax Planning
  • Post-Mortem Estate Planning
  • Marital and Pre/Post Nuptial Agreements
  • Reverse Mortgages
  • 529 College Plans

Some articles to think about:

Dennis Hopper battling his wife; says she’s after his will

Kiplinger’s article: Cut the Lawyer out of your Will?


If you have any questions about estate planning, wills or trusts, don’t hesitate to contact our office; we would be happy to answer any questions regarding your existing estate plan, or future one.