Our goal in working with you on estate planning is to ensure that the plan reflects your wishes and that you have a general understanding of the relevant documents and processes that come into play.
To accomplish this, we review existing wills and powers of attorney and if those documents aren’t in place, we discuss issues you might want to consider in having those documents drafted. A few typical issues we also discuss are:
What happens to assets and accounts when one spouse pre-deceases the other
How estates are taxed and who pays any tax due
The implications of not having estate documents in place
Which assets are subject to probate and which are not
When a trust might be advisable
The challenges of acting as a trustee
While we believe wills and powers-of-attorney are important documents, they are particularly critical for clients with young children and we discuss the roles of trusts, guardians and trustees in these situations. If you have an existing attorney with whom you would like to work, we are happy to work him or her to implement the estate plan and we can also provide if you are seeking an attorney.
Finally, as part of estate planning, we review your financial accounts to ensure that the account designations dovetail with your overall plan.
