- Premarital Agreement
- GuardianshipIncapacity. If you should become incapacitated (as defined by the terms of your trust), the successor trustee that you name would take over as trustee to manage the trust’s assets and expend them for your benefit and care. Without a funded trust, incapacity may force family members to petition the probate court for a finding of incapacity in order to establish a guardianship estate to manage your assets.
- ForgeryWill contest — when an heir or beneficiary raises issues of fraud, forgery, lack of capacity or undue influence in the creation of the Will.
- Estate PlanningDownload, print and complete our short estate planning information form by selecting from the appropriate form below...
- WillsJeffrey and his staff helped set up wills and living wills for my late wife and me. My wife was very ill and these folks couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating given her deteriorating condition. Frank discussions were handled with great care. It wasn’t long after our visit with Jeffrey that she lost her battle with cancer but because we had properly planned with him, resolving any post-death issues were made fairly simple. I heartily recommend Jeffrey and his team and thank them for their help and kindness.
- TrustsOver the last ten to twenty years, revocable living trusts (aka “inter vivos” trusts) have realized tremendous gains in popularity and visibility as a beneficial alternative to using a Will as the primary dispositive document. No longer merely a tool for the very wealthy, living trusts have gained broad acceptance. And for good reason — in most situations it is a far more flexible and efficient tool for managing property during life (including periods of incapacity) and disposing of (and managing) property after death.
- Power of AttorneyThe Durable Power of Attorney for Property (“DPAP”) gives your named agent various powers to deal with your property during your lifetime, including during periods of incapacity. The DPAP can be made to take effect immediately, or upon finding of disability, and can be drawn to give your agent very broad or very narrow powers. Since a DPAP is strictly construed, the agent will only have the powers specifically enumerated in the document. Usual powers include safe deposit transactions, business operations and financial institution transactions, among others. Importantly, you may also elect to give your agent the power to make gifts, exercise powers of appointment, transfer assets into trust and name/change beneficiaries of retirement accounts.
- ProbateProbate is the court supervised process by which a representative is appointed to collect a deceased person’s assets, pay the decedent’s debts and distribute the balance to the those entitled to receive. Probate law is governed primarily by state law, and secondarily by applicable local county procedure. The persons entitled to receive the estate are those identified in the decedent’s last valid Will, or if none, then the heirs under state intestate succession law. Probate law is primarily a statutory scheme that lays the groundwork for the procedure of administering and settling estates.
- Tax LawThe above only scratches the surface of issues that may arise during preparing of the federal estate tax return. The federal estate tax return is not a simple return, and not all accountants or attorneys have experience in preparing them. This office has significant experience in preparing estate tax returns with complex issues. Proper post-mortem estate tax planning and preparation can help avoid audit problems and save significant tax liabilities in many instances.