Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning:
Proper planning for the inevitability of death and the possibility of incapacity involves simultaneous analysis of multiple, complex legal and tax issues. We can design a plan that details how your assets are to be managed and to whom and under what conditions they are distributed after you and/or your spouse passes away, while eliminating or reducing any estate taxes to the legal minimum. A complete plan also addresses decisions regarding your health, your property and the care of those who depend on you, during any period of your temporary or permanent incapacity. Here are some of the issues typically addressed by a complete estate plan:
If I am temporarily or permanently unable to manage my affairs due to sickness or injury...
- Who will take care of me and/or my spouse?
- Who will take care of my minor children?
- Have any resources been set aside to pay for this care and who will manage those resources?
- Who will manage my business/property?
- Who would be my second choice if the designated individuals are unable or unwilling to serve?
- If someone must petition a judge to select a legal guardian for myself, my dependents or my property, can I have any say in that decision?
- Would I rather have my business and property managed privately by someone of my choosing, according to my rules, outside of court?
- What would be my rights and obligations with respect to my business partners?
- Will my business be sold? Who will tell my employees what to do?
- Is any power of attorney still valid and what can be done with it?
Upon my death and/or the death of my spouse…
- Who will inherit my assets, in what form, when and under what conditions?
- Who will manage any assets that I decide should be held back temporarily or permanently to protect my heirs from lawsuits or mistakes in judgment down the road?
- Who will manage my business/property?
- Who will go to court to administer my estate?
- Who would be my second choice if the designated individuals are unable or unwilling to serve?
- What are my estate’s rights and obligations with respect to my business partners when I die?
- Will my business be sold? Who will tell my employees what to do?
- If I have life insurance, who will get the check and will there be any strings attached?
- What will be left after the payment of estate taxes? Will my business or any of my assets need to be liquidated to pay the tax bill?
- What if my spouse and I die simultaneously?
- What if my spouse remarries?
- What if my heirs fall into debt or get divorced?
- What rights does my new or former spouse have if I don’t plan ahead? What rights do they have regardless of what I do?
- Who will take care of my child or parent with special needs? How can I set aside resources for them without disqualifying them for government benefits?
- What if any of my heirs dies before me? Who gets their share?
After reading this far, we hope the benefits of estate planning have become quite obvious, but in all fairness here are some plausible reasons one might prefer to “let nature take its course”:
- No one ever gave me anything. If my wealth all goes to taxes or creditors, so be it.
- All my family, children, in-laws, business partners and creditors will know exactly what to do and how I want things handled, they all agree as to exactly what that the plan would be, and will constantly update that plan without any guidance from me as circumstances change.
- Everything is titled jointly with others so there is no need to plan anything. (see related article)
- My family’s resources are vast, so no one will really need access to my resources to pay for my care should I become unable to care for myself.
- If my spouse and I were both dead and/or incapacitated, both our families would quickly and easily work out who will take care of our kids and who will pay for it.
- My business is at the point where it runs itself without me, and my partners/employees will naturally continue to do what’s in my best interest until my estate is wrapped up.
- What do I care? Let them figure it out! I won’t be around to deal with the aftermath. (unless I am incapacitated).
- “Society has a just claim on our fortunes and that claim goes by the name estate tax.” Bill Gates, Sr.
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