Trust & Estates Planning
If you are one of the approximately 55 percent of Americans who do not have a will or an estate plan, your heirs are at a high risk of family conflict over your estate. Remember, your heirs may get along very well with each other today, but things change when there is an inheritance at stake. Failure to define your wishes for the division of assets with estate plans can lead to eroding of your assets, and ultimately, destruction of your legacy. Speak to a TLP estate planning lawyer at the for help drafting a will that clearly establishes your guidelines for the distribution of your wealth.
Let our estate planning attorneys help. If you die without a will, in many states intestacy and estate law will apply to your estate. Your estate will go into probate, and the process could take months or even years to resolve. In other words, in the absence of a will or any other estate planning tools, there is a serious risk that the wealth that you accumulated painstakingly over the years will simply erode.
REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST
Worried that your beneficiaries will use the money left to them irresponsibly? Family estate planning can assure that you leave your assets as part of a revocable living trust that incentivizes the money that is distributed to beneficiaries. Call a living trust attorney at the TLP and discuss establishing a trust like this to safeguard your wealth and pass it on to your heirs.
FUNDING YOUR REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST
Transferring your real and personal property into a living trust is a complicated process, with extensive documentation involved. Speak to a lawyer at TLP about how you can accomplish the transfer process safely.
ORGANIZING YOUR ASSETS
Making an inventory for the assets, evaluating their worth, and defining how you want those assets to be distributed after you are all critical aspects of your estate plan.
POUR-OVER WILLS
Your revocable living trust should be accompanied by a pour-over will that will allow assets that are not included in the trust to be transferred into the trust upon your death.
ATTORNEY CERTIFICATION OF TRUST
With the establishment of a revocable living trust, your attorney will also prepare an Attorney Certification of Trust that will serve as a single-page document that includes all of the important provisions of your trust.
POWERS OF ATTORNEY
These are critical estate planning tools that can be used for healthcare and financial services. Speak to a TLP estate planning lawyer about assigning durable power of attorney to allow a person to make healthcare-related decisions on your behalf and financial power of attorney for making financial decisions on your behalf.
LIVING WILL
Also known as an advance healthcare directive, this legal document will contain all of the instructions for life-prolonging care when you’re incapacitated and unable to make those decisions for yourself.
AUTHORIZATION FORMS
These are medical release forms that contain information about your health and medical condition to be shared with third parties, when you’re seriously ill, and need such information to be shared with others, like insurers.