ESTATE PLANNING
What is An Estate Plan?
An estate plan details how to transfer your property to the right people in the right way at the right time. Your property includes your home, cars, investment accounts, retirement accounts or pensions, insurance, and other important personal belongings.
Having an estate plan in place:
- Facilitates the management of your affairs per your wishes
- Allows you to avoid probate court
- Reduces estate taxes by placing property and other assets in trusts
- Enables plans to care for children and other beneficiaries
- Protects your assets from unforeseen creditors or lawsuits
Our team at William L. Walker, Attorney at Law, Inc., is here to support you thru the administrative and emotional process of estate planning before you need it the most.
Benefits of An Estate Plan
Estate planning protects families with children by identifying guardians and assuring they have sufficient care.
A strategic estate plan prevents assets from transferring to unintended recipients.
Estate plans create a clear plan for who will get what, preventing confusion for family members.
A sound estate plan can help heirs avoid federal and state taxes.
Whether your legal needs are standard or complex, we work with you and your family to develop tailored solutions that protect your assets for the benefit of future generations.
Common Estate Planning Tools
A will is a written document that identifies what you would like done with your assets upon your death.
A revocable trust, sometimes called a living trust, is a legal document that outlines how you would like your assets controlled during your lifetime, a disability, and after your death.
An advance directive or living will is a legal document that plans out your end-of-life wishes if you become unable to communicate.
Financial Durable – A durable power of attorney designates a person to access and control your financial assets.
Health Care – A healthcare power of attorney designates a person to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to make them yourself.
A family mission statement is a combined, unified expression of your family’s purpose, goals, and standards.
This document specifies what you would like done with your final remains and provides direction for the ceremonial aspects of your funeral arrangements. These instructions can ease the burden for surviving loved ones in charge of coordinating your last wishes.
No matter what you and your family need, our estate planning attorneys can help you achieve it. A thoughtful plan can make a difference for you and your loved ones.
Advanced Estate Planning
You and your family may have needs beyond the standard revocable living trust and other standard estate planning tools. Our team at William L. Walker, Attorney at Law, Inc., can help resolve complex income tax concerns, estate tax issues, and looming nursing home costs.
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
- Retirement Trusts
- Medicaid/Title XIX Counseling
- Back-Up Medicaid Wills
- Family Limited Partnerships
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
- Grantor Trusts
- Charitable Planning
- Creditor Protection Trusts
No matter how complex your needs may be, our team is ready. Contact us today to get started!
We can also help you with...
Trust Administration
Assistance with handling both in-court and out-of-court matters of a trust estate at death or incapacity.
Probate
Similar to Trust Administration, however, Probate is a court process used when the decedent had some or all assets outside of a Trust.