Estate & Trust Planning

Trusts & Estate Planning

Having an estate plan is important to make things easier on your survivors and to ensure that your goals are met and hard-earned assets protected.  We can assist clients with all levels of estate planning from simple wills to more complex trusts.  A basic estate planning package includes a simple will, financial power of attorney, and medical power of attorney/advance medical directive.  More complex estate plans can include revocable living trusts, structured to simplify and streamline things after your death by avoiding probate.  We can also assist with elder law and special needs planning where needed, including life estate deeds, Medicaid asset protection trusts, and special needs trusts.

There are many important reasons to have an estate plan:

First, to select responsible decisionmakers.  Having an estate plan will allow you to name the people that will handle your finances and make medical decisions if you become incapacitated, the people that will handle your estate or trust after your death, and the people that will watch over your minor children.  Without an estate plan, these important decisions might be handled by irresponsible people or even people that you don’t know.  If you become incapacitated without having executed financial and medical powers of attorney, your family will have to incur great expense to go through the court system to have you declared incompetent and a guardian and conservator appointed for you.

Second, to control your money from beyond the grave. Trusts can be set up for a multitude of reasons. For example, if your child divorces, your money may not end up where you expect it to. A trust can be used to keep the assets separate and out of reach of your child’s spouse. If your child has creditors or lacks health insurance, the child’s inheritance could be lost to creditors. A trust can be structured to protect the inheritance from creditors. If your child is young or generally bad at managing money, a responsible trustee can be appointed to handle the inheritance for the child until the child reaches a certain age. If you have a child with special needs, leaving your money to that child outright would disqualify them from receiving government benefits. Instead, your money should be left to a special needs trust, which can be structured to improve the quality of life of that child by providing things that government programs do not. Trusts can also be used to control how your money is to be used: you might want your money to be used only to pay for the college educations of your grandchildren, for example.

Third, to dispose of your property while avoiding family disputes. With a will or trust, you can specifically set forth who gets what to avoid squabbles. If you have children that do not get along well or cannot agree on things, sometimes it is best to specify that your real estate or other property be sold by your executor or trustee and the proceeds distributed, rather than leaving it to your children to decide what to do with the property. Alternatively, you could leave a parcel of real property to one child and then use other assets of the estate, or even life insurance proceeds, to even things out among the children.  For business owners, business succession planning is an important part of estate planning.

Fourth, to make things easier for your survivors and reduce death taxes and expenses.  A properly drafted will can waive the statutory requirement that your executor obtain a surety bond, which would save your estate that expense.  Revocable trusts, life estate deeds, and beneficiary designations can be utilized to avoid the probate process altogether, making things easier on your survivors and saving your estate a lot of probate-related taxes and expenses.  If you anticipate your estate being subject to federal estate taxes, trusts and annual gifts can be used to increase the amount that you can pass to the next generation.

Let us help you protect your legacy.  Contact us at 540.745.4435 to schedule a consultation