Trust Preparation and Administration
Wills and Probate
ALERT: Changes in the tax laws mean anyone who has an IRA or retirement plan should come in to review current beneficiary designations. Any plan that named a trust as beneficiary may no longer work the way it was meant to, since the ability to “stretch-out” distributions has generally been replaced with a rule that requires liquidation within ten years.
Our firm can help you understand your choices when it comes to estate planning.
We start by understanding you: your family, your assets, what is important to you. We can share ideas and help you decide what fits you best: a will or trust. We can help coordinate your retirement benefits and life insurance, and can address possible incapacity issues by providing a solid General Power of Attorney and Advance Directive for Health Care. Planning means you choose how to work through transition.
- I want to control my property.
- I want to take care of myself and my loved ones.
- At my death, I want to give my property to whom I want, when I want, and the way I want.
- And in the process, I want to save as much in taxes, costs, and attorney fees as I can.
WILLS:
For families with young children, we focus on the right choices: Who is the right person to step into the parental role, as guardian, in the event of both parents’ demise? Who is the right person to handle the financial affairs for the children as they are raised? Who can invest wisely, provide the right accounting and reporting, prepare income tax returns, and – most importantly – make the right decisions about spending money?
TRUSTS:
For those who wish to avoid court involvement during incapacity and at death, a living trust provides a way to manage affairs privately, without a conservatorship or probate. More than just a “will substitute,” a living trust can minimize time and expense, provide instructions for how your loved ones should receive their inheritance, and it can include provisions that save estate tax.
BUSINESS:
For those who have created or carried on a small business, we can help create and manage the legal structure that is needed, whether that is in the form of a limited liability company or a corporation or other trust vehicles that can provide protection and planning opportunities.
AFTER DEATH:
No matter how well you may have planned, there is always work to do after a loved one dies. We can help you through that legal and tax process. Our attorneys can handle the probate of assets (with or without a will), as well as the administration of a trust.