Many people think that estate planning is just about distributing assets after death and minimizing taxes. While this is certainly part of it, a well-designed estate plan can help you accomplish much more. Another common misconception is that estate planning is only for wealthy families. Not so. Every family can benefit from having a plan of their own, one created by an attorney who focuses on this area of the law.
In essence, estate planning is about planning for every stage of life, not simply what happens after you pass away. For example, an estate plan can help ensure that your children will be well cared for if something happens to your or your spouse. It can protect your assets from the cost of long-term care and give you control over your financial and healthcare decisions if you become incapacitated. And of course, it can allow you to give what you want, when you want, to the people you want, in the manner you want. In short, estate planning gives you control, and the peace of mind that comes with having a plan in place for the future.
Even a basic estate plan can help you accomplish the goals we have just mentioned, and many more. Our basic estate planning services include:
- Wills
- Powers of Attorney
- Health Care Directives
- HIPAA Authorizations
- Revocable Living Trusts
Advanced Estate Planning
Estate planning is particularly important for families of means. Why? To put it bluntly, wealthy families have more to lose if they do not have a plan of their own. Similarly, they have significantly more to gain. Families of means must concern themselves with issues such as:
- Protecting hard-earned assets
- Assuring the continuance of your lifestyle
- Passing your values, sense of responsibility and work ethic to heirs
- Significantly reducing income, estate, excise, and generation skipping taxes
- Ensuring your affairs are kept private
- Protecting your heirs’ inheritances if they are not yet mature enough to make responsible decisions on their own
- Making sure your heirs’ inheritances are protected if they divorce, remarry, or succumb to the influence of predators
- Ensuring your impact on society and legacy endures
At Newman Law Group, we have years of experience counseling high net worth families and helping them accomplish goals such as these and more. Our services in this area include:
- Irrevocable Trusts
- Dynasty Trusts
- Charitable Trusts
- Life Insurance Trusts
- Family Limited Partnerships
- Limited Liability Companies
- Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
- Gift Programs
- Retirement Trusts
- Generation-Skipping Trusts
- Minors’ Trusts
- Tax Planning
Contact us today to discuss your particular needs and concerns. We look forward to helping you realize your dreams, today, tomorrow and beyond.