We prepare estate planning documents, such as wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, and irrevocable life insurance trusts. We also review your current wills and trusts as well as any life insurance policies, considering ways to avoid probate and reduce or eliminate estate taxes. We then run financial projections to demonstrate the impact of our recommendations.
Estate Planning: Wills and Living Trusts
Through the use of living trusts, wills, guardian designations for minor children, powers of attorney and health care declarations we help families preserve wealth for future generations. The goal is to avoid the expense and nightmare of complicated probate proceedings after death, or expensive and emotionally trying guardianship or conservatorship hearings during lifetime. If a probate, guardianship or conservatorship is needed we can handle such proceedings in an efficient, cost effective manner. We’re able to assist in settling all types of estates upon the death of an individual.
Advanced Estate Planning
Advanced estate planning focuses on reducing estate taxes and income taxes, asset protection, and transitioning significant wealth or unique assets. Without such planning, a substantial portion of your wealth may be put in jeopardy, potentially forcing the sale of cherished assets (e.g., the family farm, the family business, or the family cabin). There are a wide variety of sophisticated planning strategies, such as Family Limited Partnerships (FLP) or Family Limited Liability Companies (FLLC), Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRT), Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILIT) and a wide range of charitable gifting techniques to reduce federal estate taxes, gift taxes and generation skipping transfer taxes.
Our Process
Estate planning refers to the specific planning for the orderly disposition of your wealth upon your death to ensure that you provide for those you love and that your assets pass as you intend. Estate planning is an integral part of business succession planning, and understanding our clients’ estate planning and business succession goals is a top priority of our practice. We assist you with your estate plan by:
- analyzing your current circumstances;
- preparing estate planning documents, such as wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, and irrevocable life insurance trusts;
- reviewing your current wills and trusts as well as your life insurance policies;
- considering estate planning techniques to avoid probate, reduce or eliminate estate taxes, and preserve wealth for future generations;
- running financial projections to illustrate the impact of your current estate plan as well as tax savings from considering recommended changes in your estate plan;
- taking into consideration a business succession plan, as well as an estate plan.
