Estate Planning

Like to learn by reading? Then keep reading this page—our Estate Planning Library!

Prefer to watch short, educational videos? Click here to go to Estate Planning University!

What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the process of arranging for the transfer of your assets upon your death. Effective estate planning will help preserve your assets and leave them for the intended beneficiaries, while giving you the ability to change beneficiaries prior to your death. Plus, you can eliminate the uncertainties that often lead to painful and expensive family conflicts and avoid leaving your loved ones the additional burden of dealing with an unplanned estate. Drafting an effective estate plan is like planting a shade tree today for your family to enjoy for generations—but an ineffective estate plan could be worse than no plan at all.

After nearly 20 years of practicing law, one thing that has become painfully clear: “An ounce of legal prevention is worth a TON of cure!” This is especially true when it comes to estate planning. We’ve had many clients seek our help only after having to deal with an estate that had no proactive planning, or worse, ineffective planning that they either tried to do themselves or did online without attorney assistance.

In fact, most of the attorney-prepared estate plans I have reviewed failed to include certain “ounces of prevention,” which are like tools in the toolbox in the trunk of your car—you may never need that “widget-fixer,” but if you do need it to get back on the road, you’re going to be very happy. Such “widget-fixers” include:

• Disclaimer Trust - Allows the surviving spouse to “disclaim” the inheritance from the deceased spouse into an irrevocable, creditor-protection trust, available for the benefit of surviving spouse but not available to their creditors.

• The ability to hold in trust an inheritance (but still use it for their benefit) that would otherwise be given outright to someone:

  • who is not yet 25 years old (you can pick any age);

  • who is suffering from substance abuse;

  • who is incapacitated such that receiving their inheritance outright will reduce or terminate governmental benefits they are receiving;

  • who is going through a divorce or facing creditor issues.

We would much rather help with the ounce of prevention than with the ton of cure, which is why we work hard to make estate planning EASY for you.

Want a preview of the Intake Interview, which not only gathers information but also has a ton of information regarding estate planning? We also have a fillable PDF form you can download—one for individuals and one for couples—that you can use as a worksheet before you complete the online Intake Interview, or, if you’d prefer, you can simply complete the PDF form (on your computer or print it and fill it out by hand) and get it to us. Whatever works best for you!

What’s important is that we gather as much information as possible so we can best advise you when we meet. You can schedule a meeting (in person, via video, or phone) by clicking here or the “Schedule a Consult” button atop every page of this website.

When you go to the Register/Create an Account page, you’ll find a lot of information regarding the documents that make up a basic estate plan. A basic estate plan contains three very important documents (with our shorthand names for them):

• Last Will and Testament (Will) - With this document, you can expressly name your Executor (and backups), establish guardianship for minor children, waive the need for a costly bond, avoid legal disputes and family strife (over questions such as who should serve as Executor), and greatly minimize stress for your loved ones when your time comes. Without a Will ("intestate"), state law will determine who gets what.

• Durable Power of Attorney for Financial/Legal Matters (DPOA) - With this document, you name one or more agents to act on your behalf (immediately or only when you become incapacitated) with regard to legal and financial matters. Without this document, your loved ones may need to go through the expensive (average $3,500+) and time-consuming process of getting a court-ordered "Guardianship of the Estate."

• Combined Advance Directive for Health Care (HCPOA) - With this document, you name someone to act on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated and unable to make or communicate decisions regarding health and mental health care matters. Without this document, your loved ones may need to go through the expensive (average $3,500+) and time-consuming process of getting a court-ordered "Guardianship of the Person."

If you have young children, you may also want a “Family Protection Plan,” which is essentially a one-page temporary guardianship document designed to keep your children from ever entering the foster care system. Click here to learn more about our Family Protection Plan.

Want more information?

CLICK HERE for read more about these and other documents that might make up your estate plan!

CLICK HERE to read about specialized irrevocable trusts such as a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust.

Between the information found in the short, educational Estate Planning U videos, the Intake Interview, the fillable PDFs (one for individuals and one for couples), and the information on this website, there is a lot of information.

If you still have questions after reviewing everything, you can always call (609-208-0999), email us, or even live chat with us . . . whatever works best for you, we’ll get you answers!

Links in this section:

• Estate Planning U

• Individual PDF

• Couples PDF

• Schedule a Consult

• Family Protection Plan

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

– Benjamin Franklin

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”

― Alan Lakein

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”

– Alexander Graham Bell

“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.”

― Fitzhugh Dodson

"Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small."

- Sun Tzu

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

– John F. Kennedy

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

- Warren Buffett

“A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.”

- Confucius

“Estate planning is an important and everlasting gift you can give your family. And setting up a smooth inheritance isn't as hard as you might think.”

-Suze Orman