Wills & Trusts Law

Be sure that your property is disposed of in the manner that you wish. Be sure that your loved ones are covered when you have passed. Allow us to help you develop and execute your plans. We are also here to administer your probate and/or litigate a probate dispute.

Wills and Trusts and Estate Planning and Why You Need it?

Do you have children? Do you have any assets? Do you own a home? Do you have pets or any personal items that you’d like to be transferred to someone else upon your death? Do you have bills to pay? Do you have beliefs regarding organ donation, cremation or when you’d like “the plug” to be “pulled,” then you need an estate plan!

Let’s say you pass away without a will or trust in place, did you know that your family may not have rights to your property, cash, surviving children, or any of your hard earned estate?

That’s right, the state can assign a guardian (not of your choosing) to your kids and pay off your debts with your remaining estate, leaving your loved ones empty handed or paying large fees to an attorney in order to preserve the inheritance or worse yet, your assets may go somewhere that you never intended by operation of law

Bottom line: you should have a will, living will, durable power of attorney, pre-need guardianships for minor children, proper deeds, properly noticed death beneficiaries and/or a general estate plan and/or trust to preserve your assets as well as your loved one’s rights to inherit.

Whats the difference between a living will and a will?
A will is basically a document that says how you want your estate divided up and how you want your last wishes executed. This can also state last wishes and to whom you grant guardianship of kids and pets. A will is not activated until your passing and depending on the terms and the types of assets, it may have to be probated or it might not. A will is a great way to entrust a person as personal representative or executor to divide up personal items like jewelry, artwork, electronics and items like furniture. It is not the way to dispose of real property or other large items. For those items you will need to look to other means.

A living will is a document which controls what you’d like to happen if you’re medically incapable of making decisions, such as the situation where you are on life support. Do you want your organs donated? Do you want experimental treatments? Under what circumstances would you like to go peacefully without extraordinary means?

What is a power of attorney?
A power of attorney can give someone the right to make financial decisions for you if you become incapacitated. It can allow the person with the power of attorney to pay your bills or otherwise care for you for the period of time in which you cannot care for yourself.

What is a trust?

There are several types of trust, but the purpose of a trust is to avoid the probate process and preserve your assets. Trusts can also set up money for loved ones upon attaining an age, set up funding for those with special needs, preserve assets for the purpose of qualifying for federal and state benefits and much more.

Have more questions on estate planning with a will or a trust? Call us today!