Estate Planning is Peace of Mind
Estate planning attorneys serve everyone who wants to protect their loved ones from unnecessary stress and confusion. Think of it as leaving a clear roadmap for your family to follow, ensuring your wishes are respected and your assets go exactly where you want them to. We make the process simple and affordable, guiding you through each decision with care. It’s one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give your family.
You’ve worked hard to build your life – your home, your savings, and your family relationships. The estate planning attorneys at Clear Counsel Law Group protect all of it. It’s about ensuring your loved ones are cared for exactly as you want. While it might seem overwhelming, we break it down into simple steps that make sense for your situation. And yes, affordable estate planning is possible for everyone – we make sure of that.
Estate Planning Attorneys Services
A properly-prepared estate plan will bring peace of mind to you and your loved ones. Everyone needs to plan for their death or disability, and everyone can afford to plan with Clear Counsel Law Group.
When the trust isn’t being followed, or needs to be changed, our lawyers can help.
We help you handle everything from asset management to tax considerations with confidence.
Also called an advance directive, this expresses your healthcare choices when illness or injury prevents you from communicating.
An Estate Planning Attorney's Introduction to Estate Planning
What is estate planning?
Estate planning covers everything you own and care about – from your home and savings to your grandmother’s recipe book and your social media accounts. It’s where you spell out who gets what, but it’s more than just distributing possessions. Your estate plan also protects you during your lifetime by making your medical care wishes clear if you can’t speak for yourself.
Why is it important?
First, it ensures that your wishes are honored. Without clear directives, state laws, and courts might make decisions that go against your intentions. Second, a good estate plan can reduce family disputes and heartache. Few things are more distressing than family members fighting over assets during an emotionally challenging time. Additionally, a well-structured estate plan can minimize taxes, legal fees, and bureaucratic delays.
Some Key Terms Your Estate Planning Attorney Will Discuss With You:
Personal Representative
A trusted person responsible for ensuring that the directives in a will are carried out. Referred to as an executor when appointed by a last will and as an administrator when appointed by a probate court.
Estate
A person’s net worth representing the sum of all assets including debts and taxes.
Beneficiary
A designated person or entity set to receive assets. These include survivors (heirs), charities, trusts, and other estates.
Probate
The legal process where an estate is reviewed and assets are distributed.
Basic Estate Planning Documents
Your estate plan puts your wishes in writing, leaving no room for doubt or confusion. Each document has a special job: some protect your assets while you’re alive, others make sure your loved ones are taken care of after you’re gone, and some spring into action if you become ill or unable to make decisions. These aren’t just papers – they’re powerful tools that give you and your family peace of mind.
Wills
A document detailing how you’d like your assets distributed after your death.
Trust Documents
This is a legal document that establishes a trust, names the trustees and beneficiaries, and sets out how the trust’s assets should be managed and distributed.
Power of Attorney
A potent tool that grants someone else authority to act on a person’s behalf. A durable power of attorney legal designates an agent to act in every way as the person issuing it.
Financial Power of Attorney
This limited power of attorney appoints an agent to act on an issuer’s behalf in matters of finances.
Healthcare Power of Attorney (Medical Proxy)
Also referred to as an advanced health care directive or a durable power of attorney for healthcare, it allows a person to designate an agent to make healthcare decisions on their behalf.
Types of Trusts
While wills are common, trusts are powerful tools that offer more precise control over a person’s assets as well as their distribution. A trust works like a special container where assets are placed. They offer more control, flexibility, and potential tax benefits than simple wills.
A trust’s assets are managed by a trustee for the benefit of one or more named beneficiaries. The different types of trusts govern the level of protection offered, how difficult it is to access assets, and when a trust can be dissolved.
Revocable Living Trusts
A flexible estate planning tool that allows you to place your assets into a trust during your lifetime while maintaining complete control over them – you can buy, sell, or modify the trust’s contents at any time.
Irrevocable Trusts
Once set, these can only be changed with the consent of the beneficiaries and/or trustees.
On the upside, this type of trust offers asset protection and potential tax benefits.
Types of Wills
Wills cover information regarding an estate and naming beneficiaries. They also provide information dictating the wishes of a person both when they are alive and after their death. Both types of wills can be modified and updated to reflect new wishes or to change beneficiaries.
Last Will and Testament
The most common type of will, this type of will goes into effect after a person passes. Beyond naming assets and beneficiaries, a last will can also appoint guardians for minors.This covers who a person would like to take care of children under 18.
Primarily, a last will names an executor to handle affairs and ensure that wishes are honored.
Living Will
Not to be confused with the above, a living will details a person’s desires regarding medical treatment when they can’t voice them.
Beneficiary Designations
Both wills and trusts establish ways assets can be passed on, especially through designated beneficiaries.
What is a beneficiary? Simply, it is an individual or entity set to receive assets. This can be from a will, trust, specific accounts, and certain policies.
Life is ever-changing. Marriages, births, divorces, and deaths can alter who is chosen as a beneficiary. Regularly updating this info ensures assets are directed appropriately.
Here are common assets with beneficiary designations:
Retirement accounts
Like IRAs and 401(k)s, these often pass directly to named beneficiaries.
Life insurance policies
Upon death, the insured’s policy is paid out to designated beneficiaries.
Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts
These accounts allow assets to be passed directly to beneficiaries without the hassle of probate.
Estate Taxes and Types of Assets
Most assets are subject to taxes and need to be appraised and adjusted before distribution.
Estate and Gift Taxes
In essence, estate taxes are levied on the transfer of an individual’s assets after death, whereas gift taxes apply to transfers made while a person is alive. Distribution of assets is easier (and more cost effective) when done ahead of time.
Exemptions and Thresholds
Both estate and gift taxes often have exemption thresholds. This means that up to a certain amount, there’s no tax. Being aware of these thresholds is pivotal for strategic planning.
Strategies to minimize tax liability
Gifting during one’s lifetime, setting up specific trusts, or donating to charities all contribute to reducing the taxable estate. Your estate planning attorney can help you come up with a custom solution for your situation.
Modern estate planning includes digital assets
Not all assets are physical. In the modern age, people own a range of intangible, online products, currencies, and even identities. Estate planning now encompasses what is to be done about these digital assets.
These include digital photos, social media accounts, emails, digital currencies, and online businesses.
Just like physical assets, digital ones hold value, both monetary and sentimental. Ensuring their proper management and transition is essential.
Listing out digital assets, having secure methods for loved ones to access them, and providing directives for their management or deletion are all crucial steps. Your estate planning attorney will help you consider all the complexities of planning in the digital age.
Organizing and Storing Estate Planning Documents
It is not enough to simply have estate planning documents; they have to be accessible and up to date.
Best practices for document storage
Store the originals in a fireproof safe or bank deposit box, keep digital copies as backup, and – most importantly – tell your trusted family members or executor exactly where to find everything.
Importance of easy accessibility
In emergencies, time is of the essence. Keep essential documents like powers of attorney quickly accessible. Using digital copies is easier and quicker than running to the bank vault to open a safe-deposit box.
Periodically review and update documents
Major life events like marriages, divorces, new children, or buying a home can affect your estate plan. That’s why we recommend reviewing your documents every few years – or sooner when big changes happen. A quick review ensures your plan still protects the people you love in exactly the way you want.
What Does an Estate Planning Attorney Do?
While you can find estate planning forms online, getting professional guidance helps you avoid costly mistakes and overlooked details. Our experienced team ensures your plan covers everything it should – giving you confidence that your family is fully protected. Plus, we often spot opportunities to save money and protect assets that you might miss on your own.
Estate Planning Attorneys craft a personalized plan
We listen carefully to your goals, understand your family relationships, and learn about your assets. Then we create a plan that matches your specific situation – because protecting your family’s future is too important for one-size-fits-all solutions.
Estate Planning Attorneys Spot Problems Before They Happen
Our experienced attorneys know where potential problems hide – like unexpected tax consequences or family conflicts over inheritance. We help you avoid these pitfalls from the start, using strategies we’ve developed over years of protecting families like yours.
Estate Planning Attorneys Make Sure Your Plan Works
Small mistakes in estate planning documents can have big consequences for your family. Our attorneys know exactly how to word your wishes so there’s no room for confusion or legal challenges later. We’ve seen what happens when people try to cut corners – and we make sure your plan stands up when your family needs it.
Clients and Legal Professionals Speak Out
FAQ
Clients who have been hurt in an accident can trust that Clear Counsel Law Group brings serious firepower to their personal injury case.
A will is an instrument that is meant to indicate how your property is to be distributed at the time of your death. A living trust, on the other hand can avoid probate, can plan for what to do with your assets even before your death, control your property after you are gone, and prevent your finances from becoming a matter of public record.
As you can see, an estate plan is far more powerful and flexible than a will. However, you may not even need one.
To find out for sure, speak with a good estate attorney who will know what kind of instrument is best.
Estate plans can help you avoid a large amount of estate taxes. However, the estate tax threshhold changes frequently so be sure to consult with a lawyer to see what kind of estate plan is appropriate for your unique situation.
A Power of Attorney document allows another to act on your behalf. This is most commonly used in cases where medical decisions need to be made, but your agent can also sign checks for you, transfer a title, or even sell securities. A Power of Attorney document is a powerful tool and you need to be sure to work with an experienced estate planning lawyer to get it right.
Estate planning is something best done with somebody with experience. There is a modest cost when using an attorney, but remember that your estate planning lawyer has seen dozens, if not hundreds, of estate plans and knows the right kinds of questions to ask. You will not regret taking the time and using the resources needed to get the estate plan right.
Estate planning lawyers are more expensive than do-it-yourself solutions, but their services are still very affordable and can save your family a fortune in the long run. Basic estate plans or trusts with very few assets are cheaper than more complicated plans, and most lawyers will be happy to adjust their pricing based on your needs.
Once your plan is created, updating it only costs a fraction of the initial expense. Speak with your lawyer to get an estimate of your estate plan.