- Divorce
- Guardianship4) Do you have a Living Will and a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions? Just as you may need a conservator if you become disabled you may need a guardian in the case of disability. A guardian is appointed by the court to make decisions regarding your physical care and health. Because it is necessary to have a guardian appointed by the court it is more cumbersome and expensive to establish a guardianship as opposed to making use of a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions. With this document, the agent appointed by you is empowered to act on your behalf if you are unable to do so. Your agent can consent to or refuse medical treatment on you behalf and make all necessary arrangements for your care. We recommend this document as a part of all of our estate plans. We also recommend the use of a Living Will or advance directive if you desire. This document provides guidance in the event you have a terminal condition or a condition from which you are unlikely to recover. In this document you can direct that in such event treatment be withheld and you be allowed to die. If you do not want treatment in such cases we strongly recommend the use of a Living Will but leave the decision to each client. For more information, click here.
- Estate PlanningCan I change my trust after it is established? Yes. The typical trust used in estate planning is revocable, meaning it can be changed as long as you remain competent. Such a trust is a very flexible planning tool and can be changed as your lifestyle and finances change.
- WillsWhat is a will? A will is a legal document which specifies how you want your property distributed upon your death.
- Trusts2) Do you have a Living Trust? We consider the living trust to be the tool of choice in the majority of cases in which the client desires to avoid probate. This extremely flexible tool offers may advantages, including time and cost, and because of its flexibility can be tailored to meet the needs of nearly every client. For more information about trusts click here.
- Power of Attorney3) Do you have a plan in place to prevent your becoming a ward of the court if you were to become disabled and unable to manage your own affairs? Even more important that planning for your eventual death is planning for the possibility of disability. If for some reason you were to become unable to manage your affairs what would happen. Injury, illness or age can leave you unable to transact your day to day business and look after your property and finances. Absent some other provision, it may be necessary to go to court and have a conservator appointed to act on your behalf. While it is sometimes desirable to have the limits and supervision that comes with a conservatorship, it is often more cumbersome and expensive than other options. Almost every estate plan we prepare includes a durable power of attorney in which you appoint an agent to act for you if you become disabled. A Living Trust is also a very good substitute for a conservatorship and we often use this in addition to a durable power of attorney. For more information, click here.
- Probate
- Tax Law7) If you have a large estate do you have a plan to minimize or avoid Estate Taxes? Recent changes in the law have a dramatic impact on necessary tax planning. Kansas no longer has an estate tax and the Federal estate tax now applies to estates in excess of $5,000,000. Spouse can shelter up to $10,000,000 without the complex trust structures that were required in the past. Because of these changes, plans that were previously put into place may no longer fit your need and may need to be reviewed.