Life &
Estate Planning
Estate planning is the establishment of a specific plan for preserving and pro-actively managing your wealth while you're alive and distrubuting it after your death. These assets may be owned by you separately or jointly with others.
Estate planning done right will accomplish your personal and family goals, making the management of your financial and legal affairs smoother, further proper planning can minimize taxes if your estate is large enough for taxes to be of concern.
By estate, we are talking about all assets of any value that you own, including real property, any business interests, investments, insurance proceeds, personal effects and personal property. Estate plan refers to the means in which your estate is passed on to your loved ones at your death.
Sensible Solutions in estate planning
When thinking about your unique circumstances, consider how the following can help you:
Unlike a testamentary trust created by your will after your lifetime, you create a living trust during your lifetime. If you want continuous control of your assets during and after your lifetime, a living trust can help. It avoides probate. In addition, living trusts can help reduce or eliminate federal estate taxes.
Probate is neither a legal document, nor is it a strategy. Probate is a court procedure with complex, formal rules designed to take care of people who cannot take care of their own affairs, namely people who are incapacitated or those who have died. But probate can be costly, time consuming and invade your privacy. You, your loved ones and your assets can avoid probate only through proper legal documents.
A power of attorney allows you, the principal, to choose a trusted person or organization to handle your financial, legal or health care matters if you are unavailable or incapable to manage them for yourself. The person or organization you choose to act on your behalf is known as your attorney-in-fact or agent.
The person granting the authority for power of attorney must be mentally competent at the time of the signing in order to make the document legally binding.
The death or attainment of a specific age of a trust beneficiary often triggers action by the trustee. Depending on the terms of the trust agreement, the trust may terminate or continue in further trust. In either case, the trustee may be responsible for collecting the trust assets, paying the debts of the trust settler or grantor, including income and estate taxes, filing tax returns, accounting to the beneficiaries and distributing the trust assets. As a fiduciary, the trustee has a duty to the beneficiaries to act responsibly. We provide the trustee guidance every step of the way through the trust administration process.
Estate and trust administration are similar procedures. However, a probate estate typically is done through the probate court, while a trust administration avoids probate.
A Health Care Directive is also commonly known as a Living Will. This document states your wishes for health care if you are unable to express them yourself. The document instructs others about your treatment wishes regarding prolonging life and withdrawing or withholding treatment if you are terminally ill. It may also include directions for pain management.
Five Steps To A Successful Life & Estate Plan