You have questions?

Your Will is a legal document through which you distribute some of your assets upon death. Other assets will be distributed not based on your Will but on your beneficiary designations, depending on the situation. Over two-thirds of the U.S. adult population does not have a Will, and for those who do, most Wills do not fully cover their situation. Upon death, the only way to make a Will valid is to file it in the probate court, a public and lengthy process that delays your family access to what you have left behind.

When it comes to estate planning, the best outcome for you, your family, and your loved ones will be achieved only by working with a lawyer who is familiar with various different estate planning situations and encounters them daily. You have worked your whole life for what you have and meticulously fostered the relationships in your life. Unfortunately, some families collapse after the death of a loved one because they either did no planning at all, or if they did, it was through an online platform that knew nothing about their family or unique circumstances and that ultimately failed them when their family needed help the most. We encourage a lifelong relationship between you and your estate planning attorney so that you have a lawyer to be there for your family when you cannot be.

This is the most often asked question in estate planning, and that is okay – we know the topic of cost is a sensitive one when it comes to choosing a professional to guide you, and we have designed our fees on a flat-fee basis only so that you know exactly what you are committing to – and there are no surprises. While we don't quote fees online, we invite you to hop on a complementary 15-minute introductory call with us to talk about our fee ranges. We also invite you to check out our educational events where we teach you things about estate planning you did not even know to ask. Plus, during our next event, we will cover our unique meeting process and fee ranges so that you know exactly how to take the next steps at the best time for you and your family.

Think of a Trust as a “Will substitute.” What we mean is that just as a Will distributes your assets upon death, a Revocable Living Trust does the same. The upside of a Trust over a Will is that anything that is in your Trust does not need to go through a court process upon your death. As a result, a Trust remains a private document and avoids all the costs associated with the probate court, whereas a Will becomes a public document after you pass away no matter how private you were during your lifetime.

Your estate plan should work no matter where in the U.S. or whatever state you might move to. This said, we always recommend finding a local estate planning attorney to review your out-of-state plan to help you ensure you make any necessary updates based on differences in state law.

No, a Will is limited in how it can protect your children. First, a Will is effective only once you pass away and once the document is filed with and accepted by the probate court, but you may have a need for your kids to have a guardian appointed if you are incapacitated. Second, appointing who would raise your children is one thing, while appointing short-term temporary guardians in case of a short-lived emergency is another thing. Your Child Emergency Plan names both short-term and long-term guardians to ensure that everyone you trust has exactly the information they need on-hand at any moment to care for your children.

Think of a child emergency plan as one piece (a very important piece) of your overall estate plan. For parents with minor children, you need both the traditional estate plan that every adult needs as well as a Child Emergency Plan that every parent of minor children needs.

Only certain types of assets are appropriate for an appropriate asset protection trust. Once we identify what those are in your case, you can transfer those valuable assets into an asset protection trust to protect those assets from future and unknown creditors. This transfer will protect your assets while you are living and will also protect them from the IRS when you die. This said, there are some disadvantages associated with transfers of valuable property into asset protection trusts, which include your likely or known exposure to creditors’ claims, your personal loss of control over how a particular asset is managed once transferred, and potential gift tax consequences that result from the transfer. What assets should be transferred into asset protection trusts depends on your specific situation, including your state of residence, the state where your business has been organized, where your physical office and registered agent are located, where your assets are located, and more.

Even then, certain assets are considered “exempt” (forever protected) from creditors, and each state determines what it considers exempt assets. In some states, exempt assets include clothing, jewelry, tools, and household furnishings, while in other states additional assets such as life insurance and social security benefits are exempt.

If you have a retirement plan, federal law does not allow creditors to reach that asset. This applies to profit sharing, pensions, and 401(k) plans. However, both traditional and Roth IRAs may not be protected depending on the situation. We work closely with you so that you know the exact situation in your case and can make the right decisions from an asset protection planning perspective.

Yes, when done right, asset protection planning works. Asset protection is based on the foundational principles that virtually any and every asset you own can be seized from you by a creditor, and any asset you do not own cannot be seized from you by a creditor. In a nutshell, asset protection aims to remove you from the reality where your ownership of an asset is basically the same as your control over an asset. With asset protection planning, we help you legitimately remove yourself from legal ownership over an asset, which allows you to continue enjoying the economic benefits of your assets while protecting those assets from creditors. This said, we do not prepare plans where the goal is to evade a known or likely creditor, as at that point, this type of planning is too late.