Estate Planning Information & FAQs

Making a will is a great step towards passing along your assets and legacy to family members and loved ones. Contact one of our estate planning attorneys, and we can help guide you through the process. Indeed, for larger, more complicated estates, a living will and trust planning revocable trust is generally the most effective tool for avoiding probate.
Establish a Revocable Living Tru


Whether simple or complex, a well-crafted will is a crucial part of your estate plan, ensuring your wishes are respected and your loved ones are taken care of. A complex will, on the other hand, is used for larger estates or those with more intricate financial situations, such as multiple properties or business interests. Your will is a set living will and trust planning of instructions explaining how property owned in your name should be distributed after your passin

For New Parents and Married Couples
A letter of intent is a non-legal document that can provide personal guidance to your executor and beneficiaries. While these forms are typically straightforward, it's a good idea to review them periodically and ensure they align with your overall estate plan. Major life events, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of children or grandchildren, or the passing of a loved one, can significantly affect your estate plan and should prompt a review. By setting up these documents, you ensure that your wishes are respected and that your loved ones aren't burdened with unnecessary stress. State taxes, inheritance taxes, and gift taxes are distinct and can significantly impact the amount of money that ultimately reaches your loved one


An irrevocable trust may be used to avoid probate, maintain legal residency tax discounts, and protect a home from Medicaid estate recovery. Skilled elder law attorneys design a plan for their clients that completely avoids probate court. This means that non-probate assets do not go through the probate process. The probate process is only required when there are probate assets to be distributed. The probate process generally takes a year or more to complete after death and requires the filing of a significant amount of paperwork with the Probate Cour


It can be a tricky calculation, but it's important to have some idea of how many years you'll have to rely on your retirement savings. It’s important to know approximately how many working years you’ll have to build your retirement fund. Will you shoot for the 2023 median retirement age of 62,1 or do you plan to continue working to 65?
The 70-80% ru


If you are a federal employee, visit the OPM Retirement Center to learn about federal retirement benefits and resources. You can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. The first step of retirement planning is to consider how many years you have left in your working career, and how long you may expect your retirement to last. Starting early and maintaining discipline throughout your working years will help to increase your retirement savings potential. If you follow the 25 times rule, you want to have $1.2 living will and trust planning million in savings and/or investments by the time you retire. That means you have a gap of $4,000 per month and will need to pull this sum out of savings every mont


An irrevocable trust, on the other hand, provides strong large-asset protection, tax benefits, and long-term control over how assets are distributed. Choosing between an irrevocable and revocable trust depends largely on your financial goals, asset protection needs, and flexibility preferences. For individuals who don’t require extensive asset protection or estate tax planning, a revocable trust can be a perfect balance of control, privacy, and efficiency. A revocable trust is an ideal choice for those who value keeping their options open and still having flexible control over their estate. Trusts are among the most powerful tools for achieving these goals, providing a range of options for safeguarding wealth, minimizing legal hurdles, and planning for life’s uncertaintie


If you become disabled or unable to make decisions regarding these assets prior to your death, this person will be able to legally manage the assets for you. One of the benefits of a trust is that you can set parameters for how you want the funds or assets to be distributed. You can set up your trust so that any number of people receive your assets, from children or your spouse to a foundation or charity that you support. If you’re contemplating setting up a trust, you likely already have an living will and trust planning idea of what assets you want to include.
Notifying Beneficiari


Your beneficiaries may have different needs, and some may request especially large distributions. If you want a stepchild to benefit, that’s something you should spell out explicitly." Talking these through with your attorney and your advisor can help ensure that the trust document articulates your goals and sets a clear path to achieve them. Regardless of your objectives, trusts are complex documents that often involve varied assets, multiple beneficiaries and specific conditions for making distributions. Getting the language right matters and can help ensure your wishes are carried out as you planned. Every few years, or after major life events such as divorce or the birth of a child, review your trust to ensure it still reflects your wishe