Estate Planning
Estate planning is a legal process by which clients seek to maximize the benefits offered in applicable areas of law (probate, wills, trusts, taxes, property, insurance, contract law, etc.) while at the same time providing for the management of your property and health care decisions during life and the management and disposition of your property after death.
There are many benefits to estate planning: naming guardians to care for children; minimizing death or estate taxes; protecting assets for children, your spouse, or disabled heirs; avoiding guardianship proceedings in the event of mental incapacity; managing property and health care; minimizing probate; protecting assets from creditors; and protecting assets from division in the event of death or divorce.
Our attorneys can help you determine and achieve your short-term and long-term objectives regarding asset protection and management using wills, living trusts, testamentary trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), retirement benefits trusts, qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), qualified domestic trusts (QDOTs), family limited partnership and limited liability companies, beneficiary designations, and lifetime gift planning.