Estate Planning Services

What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the creation of a definite plan for managing your wealth while you’re alive and distributing it after your death. These assets may be owned by you separately or jointly with others.

It also includes:

• The preservation and distribution of your assets, both during your life and upon your death.
• The accomplishment of your personal and family goals.
• The ease and management of your financial and legal affairs.
• The minimization of taxes (if your estate is large enough for taxes to be of concern).

When we talk about an estate, we mean all assets of any value that you own, including real property, business interests, investments, insurance proceeds, personal property, and even your personal effects. An “estate plan,” generally, refers to the means by which your estate is passed on to your loved ones on your death.

How to Accomplish Your Plan

Estate planning can be accomplished through a variety of methods, including:

• Revocable Living Trusts
• Last Will and Testament / Probate
• Lifetime Gifting
• Joint Ownership
• Beneficiary Designations
• Life Estates

Problems often arise when people don’t coordinate all of these methods of passing on their estate. If you have a well-drafted estate plan in place, you will ensure that your estate passes to whom you want, when you want, and is carried out in the manner you’ve chosen. You can rest assured that your family won’t have to endure the public process and costly matter of probate. The government won’t be able to take what you’ve spent a lifetime building. However, you need to be aware of the many options that exist in estate planning – and you must choose your estate planning attorney wisely.

We offer a wealth of free information seminars in our area. Read our Estate Planning Articles or join us for a free Estate Planning Seminar.

We want you to feel confident about the choices you make – let us be your guide on the path toward preserving your family’s future.

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