There is a popular myth that only the wealthy need to worry about Wills and Estate Planning. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lack of proper planning is the fastest way to ensure confusion and disappointment at the time of your death. No matter how slight you believe your assets to be, it is important for you to take the proper steps to protect and preserve them for the use and benefit of your heirs, with minimum taxes and intervention by the legal system. Our firm strongly believes that a wisely drafted, carefully executed Estate Plan is the most critical component for a financially secure future.

While a Will is the most basic component of Estate Planning, we will also advise you on the applicability of various types of Trusts, Health Care Directives and Proxies, Funeral and Burial Plans, and Powers of Attorney. These less-obvious choices are also important to ensure your affairs are dealt with as painlessly as possible.

Revocable Trust

Also known as a Revocable Living Trust, this is a legal document that holds title or ownership to your real property and assets. Some of the benefits of a Living Revocable Trust are:

1. Can avoid Probate at death.
2. May prevent court control of assets at incapacity.
3. Brings all your assets together under one plan.
4. Provides maximum privacy (probate records are open to public scrutiny; Trusts are not).
5. Can provide for a quicker distribution of your estate assets to your beneficiaries.

A Revocable Trust may be revoked or cancelled at will by the Grantor(s). If a Trust cannot be cancelled by a family member without permission of the other parties to the Trust, the arrangement is called an Irrevocable Trust.

Irrevocable Trusts

There are a number of types of Irrevocable Trusts that can be used to make gifts to other persons while the assets remain under the control and management of a Trustee.

Some of the different types of Trusts are:

1. Minor's Trust, Irrevocable Living Children's Trusts
2. Bypass, Spendthrift, and Credit Shelter Trusts
3. Supplemental Needs Trusts
4. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
5. Grantor Trust
6. Marital Deduction, or QTIP Trusts

Trusts can be established for underage beneficiaries to provide for education and/or other needs of life. The Trust term can be set until a specific age, or for the beneficiaries' lifetime. We will guide you on the most beneficial type of Trust to establish, depending on your needs, the minor(s) involved, and the funding of the Trust.