An estate planning attorney is a legal professional who specializes in helping individuals and families plan for the future. They provide a wide range of services that can help you ensure that your assets are protected, your loved ones are taken care of, and your wishes are honored after your passing. Here are some of the services that an estate planning attorney can offer. 1. Will preparation A will is a legal document that outlines how your assets will be distributed after your … [Read more...] about What Does an Estate Planning Attorney Offer?
BLOG
Start Planning Early: Don’t Wait to Create an Estate Plan
Creating an estate plan is an important step in ensuring that your assets are protected and that your loved ones are taken care of after you pass away. However, many people put off creating an estate plan, often because they believe that they are too young or that they don't have enough assets to worry about. The truth is that it's never too early to start planning for the future and you don't have to be wealthy to benefit from an estate plan. An estate plan is a set of legal documents … [Read more...] about Start Planning Early: Don’t Wait to Create an Estate Plan
Designating a Power of Attorney for Healthcare Decisions
Designating a power of attorney for healthcare decisions is an important aspect of estate planning that can ensure that your medical wishes are respected if you become unable to make decisions for yourself. A power of attorney for healthcare, also known as a healthcare proxy or advance health care directive, is a legal document that allows you to appoint someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated or unable to communicate your wishes. When designating a … [Read more...] about Designating a Power of Attorney for Healthcare Decisions
Use a Trust to Protect Your Assets
A trust is a legal arrangement in which a trustee holds and manages assets for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries. Trusts can be used for a variety of purposes, including protecting assets from creditors, reducing taxes, and providing for loved ones. One way to use a trust to protect your assets is to create a living trust. A living trust is a trust that is created during your lifetime and can be amended or revoked by you at any time. With a living trust, you transfer ownership of … [Read more...] about Use a Trust to Protect Your Assets
Charitable Giving and Estate Planning
Charitable giving and estate planning are two important aspects of financial planning that can work together to achieve a variety of goals. Charitable giving allows you to support the causes and organizations that you care about, while estate planning helps ensure that your assets are protected and that your loved ones are taken care of after you pass away. One way to combine charitable giving and estate planning is through a charitable trust. A charitable trust is a legal arrangement in … [Read more...] about Charitable Giving and Estate Planning
How Can I Plan for Business Succession?
Business succession planning is the process of preparing for the transition of ownership and management of a business from one generation to the next. It is an important aspect of business planning that can help ensure the long-term success and stability of the company. Here are a few ways to plan for business succession. 1. Develop a plan The first step in planning for business succession is to develop a plan. This plan should include details such as who will take over the … [Read more...] about How Can I Plan for Business Succession?
How to Use the Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Amount
Would you like to make gifts this year to your loved ones that benefit both you and the recipient? Annual exclusion gifts provide a benefit not only to the recipient but also to the donor. Annual per donee exclusion gifts allow the donor to make gifts to multiple individuals without incurring any transfer tax consequences provided that the total gifts to an individual are present interests and do not exceed the threshold amount. Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 2503(b) sets the amount that … [Read more...] about How to Use the Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Amount
Planning for the International Client
As the world shrinks due to increased mobility and interconnectedness, estate planning has become more complex. Now estate planning requires understanding issues that arise when a client owns assets in another country or resides in the U.S. but lacks citizen status. Things change for clients who neither reside in the U.S., nor have U.S. citizenship, but who own U.S. property. My friend and colleague Tereina Stidd, an estate planning expert, discusses this issue. Read on to learn more. … [Read more...] about Planning for the International Client
Will The Government Inherit Your Estate?
There are several myths and misconceptions surrounding estate planning that sometimes pop up. For example, some people believe that the state of California will inherit your property if you don't make a will or create some kind of estate plan. While this is possible, it is very rare. The process through which the state inherits someone's property is called escheat. Let's take a look at it and why it rarely happens. You can choose who inherits your property. In order to pass on your … [Read more...] about Will The Government Inherit Your Estate?
How Do You Balance Inheritances?
Most people are aware of the fact that life insurance is often utilized in the field of estate planning as a way to replace your income in the event of your unexpected passing. However, life insurance is used in other ways as well, and this underscores why it is important to work with an estate planning attorney when you're planning for the future. There are a lot of strategies that exist that the typical layperson would have no reason to be aware of, and this is one of the reasons why it is … [Read more...] about How Do You Balance Inheritances?
