Services Estate & Tax Planning

Estate & Tax Planning

Family: Your True Legacy

Estate planning can be a challenging thing to think about. No one likes to think about a time when they will not be around. 

The planning you do today gives your family the best opportunity for success – whatever success means to you and your family. 

We work hard for you so that our estate planning process is meaningful and efficient and allows you to do exactly what needs to be done. Together, we can create a plan to address your goals and concerns. That might be, education for children or grandchildren, care for a special needs child, protection for important assets, and/or planning for long-term care.

Each person’s plan is unique – what is best for one person is not necessarily the best choice for someone else. We craft a custom plan tailored to your goals – all your goals. 

This can include drafting documents such as Wills, Trusts (revocable or irrevocable), health care powers of attorney, living wills and special needs trusts. And, by design, each estate plan is built to provide multi-generational estate planning opportunities to build a GREAT Estate Plan for all clients of all asset levels.

What Makes a GREAT Estate Plan?

During our initial consultation, we review your need for the following documents:

• Will
• Financial Powers of Attorney
• Health Care Powers of Attorney
• Living Will
• HIPAA Form
• Trusts

To have a GREAT Estate Plan, it is not enough to have basic template forms you can print off anywhere. Your plan should include documents that have gone through a process that includes your providing specifics as to your family, your assets, and your concerns. Then these instructions are incorporated into the documents and plan.  

Having personally crafted documents may only be the first step, it may be important to also consider positioning of assets, beneficiary designations, and other important tasks to fully implement your GREAT Estate Plan. 

No Such Thing as Basic Wills in an Effective Estate Plan

A key part of your estate plan is your Will. It might seem easier to have a simple 3-page Will that provides a sentence stating your assets will pass to your spouse (if alive), and otherwise in equal shares to your children. However, these documents do not include Elder Law Enhancements that save time and money and protect family members who may be vulnerable at the time of your death.  

Even a Will with Elder Law Enhancements does not tell the entire estate planning story of what happens when you die. Unless you review the following additional factors, your estate plan is not finished: 

• joint assets
• designated assets
• income tax issues
• inheritance tax issues
• special needs planning issues
• and more!

Time for Your GREAT Estate Plan!

Only you know what you want for your plan. Our process is designed to help you focus on the issues, gather important documents, and guide you through a process that builds a plan that fits you and your level of needs.

Our most affordable level of planning, the “Essential Estate Plan” is best suited for clients that have few assets, no children, and no health issues. But these clients may very well be the exact clients who are most vulnerable when faced with elder law planning needs.  Financial Powers of Attorney and Health Care Powers of Attorney must build a network of surrogate decision-makers that can assume responsibility if needed.

For clients with complicated needs, assets or plans, our process is designed to support you at your level of needs as well.  Often, we work with your team of advisors to ensure seamless integration of financial planning, tax planning, and legal goals.

During our working initial consultation, we review each client’s concerns and goals and ensure that options offered meet the specific client’s needs to ensure the protection of your legacy and offer peace of mind.

Ready to Get to Work?