Estate Planning

Estate planning involves the accumulation, preservation, and distribution of an estate in a manner that will most effectively achieve an estate owner’s personal goals, whether it is passed on to heirs or to benefit a charitable organization.

Like it or not, no one lives forever. Although this thought may depress you, safeguarding the future of the people you care about most is one of the most important aspects of financial planning. Unless you develop plans and take steps during your lifetime to accumulate, preserve and distribute your wealth upon your death, chances are that your heirs and beneficiaries will receive only a part of your estate. The rest will go (often unnecessarily) to taxes and various administrative costs.

We help you to determine what types of documents, such as a will, various types of trusts, and powers of attorney, are needed as a blueprint for your heirs in the distribution and management of your estate. We work to answer these questions and others:

• How should my accounts be titled?
• Who should I put for beneficiaries of retirement account and life insurance to minimize tax?
• How can I provide for liquidity of my estate?
• How can I give to charity and still provide for my heirs?
• How can I minimize estate tax?

There are excellent estate planning tools that can help clients accomplish their income and estate tax reduction goals while providing for a legacy that transcends your lifespan. We work with competent attorneys specializing in estate planning or your current attorney to make sure your estate plan is per your wishes.