Estate Planning Attorney Services
Our estate planning attorney represents individuals and families in trust and estate matters. Instead of using prepackaged, “one-size-fits-all” estate plans, our estate planning attorney will customize your estate plan based on your specific goals. We begin by helping you think through the various estate planning options and choose one that fits your specific situation.
The choice of which estate plan that is right for you will depend on your goals, age, health, family situation, and asset profile. Here are some common examples of how these factors can influence estate planning:
- Individuals or couples with substantial estates are concerned about the estate and gift tax burden that will reduce the amount that their loved ones receive. In this situation, the estate planning attorney will focus on meeting the client’s non-tax objectives in a way that legally reduces the overall estate and gift tax burden, allowing them to give more of their assets to their beneficiaries and less to the government.
- Many middle-aged or senior clients want avoid probate and provide for the management of their affairs in the event that they become disabled or mentally incapacitated. For these clients, estate planning will typically involve incapacity planning and probate avoidance techniques.
- Many middle-aged and younger clients are concerned with providing for minor (or immature) children or grandchildren by making sure that their needs are met without spoiling them. For these clients, estate planning will often involve the use of trusts, designations of guardians, and other planning techniques designed to ensure that their loved ones are provided for in an appropriate manner.
- Clients with children from prior marriages may have unique planning concerns. The estate plans of these clients will usually involve techniques designed to deal with the distribution of the client’s assets between the client’s surviving spouse and children.
- Some clients are concerned about leaving assets to a child, only to have it lost in the event that the child goes through a messy divorce. Others are in high-risk businesses or professions and are concerned with losing their hard-earned assets to a frivolous lawsuit. The estate plans of these clients will usually involve an asset protection (wealth preservation) component designed to ensure that their assets go to their loved ones instead of a creditor or ex-spouse.
Whatever your specific situation may be, our estate planning attorney can help you reach your goals. Contact our estate planning attorney today to learn how we can help. Or, if you are interested in our pricing model, visit our pricing page to find out how we deliver value to our clients.
Integrated Estate Planning
We believe that best estate plan is a lifetime plan that provides for a good life while you are alive and orderly distribution of your assets after your death. Because of this belief, our estate planning attorney advocates what is known as integrated estate planning, a holistic approach that takes into account both lifetime and death planning.
Planning for death usually involves the use of wills and trusts, beneficiary designations, or joint ownership to be sure that your property passes to your intended beneficiary after your death, in the time and manner that you choose. For many clients, the estate plan is designed to save loved ones from the expense and hassle of probate at their death. Traditional estate planning has typically focused on this “death planning” aspect of estate planning, with little attention given to lifetime planning.
With increased life expectancies and the prevalence of dementia-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, lifetime planning has become an increasingly important component of the estate plan. If you become incapacitated and have not planned for it, your finances and health care could be administered under court supervision. Integrated estate planning protects against this threat. Our estate planning attorneys can help you preserve and enjoy your assets during your lifetime using techniques such as revocable living trusts, durable powers of attorney, living wills (advance health care directives), business planning, wealth preservation, and asset protection. Contact us today to find out how we can assist you with your estate planning needs.
Tax Planning and Charitable Giving
Our estate planning attorneys also assist individuals with tax planning, helping them save money on estate and gift taxes and pass more income to their intended beneficiaries. For clients that are charitably-minded, we can help structure gifts to the charity of your choice using planned giving techniques.
Contact us today for a phone consultation or to set up an appointment. We are usually available for telephone consultations from 8:00 until 5:00 central time, Monday through Friday. We also make home and facility visits in designated areas.