Areas of Practice
The term “estate planning” is a legal process to pre-arrange the way your property, money and assets are distributed to your intended recipients after you have passed on. It also addresses those plans if you are ever unable to care for yourself and make sound decisions. You can determine at what amount and to whom your assets will be distributed in order to prevent destructive conflicts among your family. There are also numerous options to mitigate estate tax if your estate is large enough to have potential estate tax exposure.
Estate Planning
When it comes to business planning, you need to ensure your business is properly formed, functioning and that your future is protected. From business formation to succession planning, you want to come up with the right organization to manage your business. I offer counsel in a variety of business planning areas to help you overcome today’s challenges while meeting your future goals.
Corporate Law
The death of an individual gives rise to the need to administer the transfer of the decedent’s assets via a will, a living trust or state intestacy laws and to comply with the estate. Whether a court appointed personal representative, or private trustee administering the terms of a trust, a fiduciary faces many challenges such as inventory of assets, annual accounting, interpretation of governing documents (will/trust document) and ultimate distribution of assets.
Probate and Trust Administration
When someone dies and a probate matter is filed with the court to administer and distribute the assets of the decedent, conflicts may arise among heirs of the estate. These issues could arise because one heir receives an inheritance that he or she believes constitutes unfair treatment compared to other heirs. They could also arise if an heir has reason to contest the validity of the will, itself, because the decedent did not have the mental capacity to execute the will or was under duress by another party when doing so.
Probate and Trust Litigation
Oftentimes due to age, accident, mental illness, incapacity or another event, an individual may not be able to make their own health care or financial decisions. If the appropriate estate planning is not in place a guardianship, or conservatorship, as they are sometimes called, may be necessary.
Elder Law and Guardianship
For some clients, charitable giving is all about a favorite cause with a charitable purpose. For others, it is all about an income tax deduction. However you approach charitable giving, I can work with you to achieve your goals. Before you dive into complex charitable planning strategies, we will focus first on the basics of your situation. There are so many basic questions that we will discuss with you as we help your family assess the current financial planning situation and consider the best charitable planning strategies for your needs.
Charitable Planning
An asset protection trust guards your resources from creditors. This type of trust is created by an individual and is irrevocable, meaning once the assets are in the trust, they cannot be removed or put elsewhere.