Estate Planning

Estate Planning is a process in which the attorney and client discuss the client’s unique life situation, including assets and family dynamics, to arrive at the best solution for the client’s needs.

Estate Planning Services

Wills

To begin, most people want to save their family members from the unnecessary time and expense of handling their estate. To do this, a Will is a basic building block for every estate plan. Passing away without a Will necessarily adds additional hassle and cost to an already emotionally fraught time after a loved one’s death.  An effective estate plan, executed early and updated regularly, is integral to ensuring an estate’s timely and efficient disposition.

Trusts

Every person needs to make decisions not just on who should receive their estate after death, but also how those beneficiaries should receive their gifts, this can be done with trusts. If part of the estate could pass to minor children, or to spendthrift adults who need help handling their resources, then a beneficiary’s trust would be in order. Minor children also need a guardian named; if the parent doesn’t make this decision, then a judge will make it for them. If any beneficiary is, or could be, on means-tested government benefits such as Medicaid, then a special needs trust is absolutely required. If your estate is at or nearing the estate tax exemption amount, then tax-planning trusts and tax exemption portability need to be discussed. If the estate includes small businesses, there needs to be a plan for continued operations after a key stakeholder’s death, including the possible amendment of management documentation.

All of these decisions need to be coordinated with the client’s particular list of assets, so that the money flows where it is intended, whether through a Will, revocable living trust, rights of survivorship, or beneficiary designations.

Aside from the disposition of a person’s estate, estate planning addresses the client’s needs upon his or her own incapacity or disability. Who would you want to make your medical or financial decisions in case you are unconscious? Properly executed powers of attorney ensure that your medical decisions are in the right hands, and that your assets are handled the way you would want. If you are facing a prolonged illness, then the use of a revocable living trust is a good tool for long-term asset management.

Ancillary Estate Planning Documents

Other “ancillary documents” are integral to planning, such as a HIPAA Consent, Directive to Physicians regarding the use of life support (also called a “Living Will”), and Appointment of Agent for Disposition of Remains. Additional documents may be used to achieve goals like probate avoidance on the passage of a home or automobile.

Work With Experienced Texas Estate Planning Attorneys

Estate planning encompasses more than just drafting of documentation, although appropriate documents are an extremely important result of the process. It takes a partnership between attorney and client to understand the needs and particular desires of the client, and to work together to achieve those desires. Virginia Hammerle and Kendra Rey work closely with clients to plan estates that are efficient, understandable, and effective. Schedule a consultation to begin the process today.