Most people do not want to think about what will happen if they become incapacitated or pass away.  How will your family deal with your incapacity or death?  Who will make decisions on your behalf?  How will your assets be protected?  These questions can be addressed by establishing a comprehensive estate plan.  By taking the guesswork out of these issues, you will find that you are more at ease, knowing that your loved ones and your assets will be protected.

An “Estate Plan” is your personal plan for your property and person in the event of your disability and after your death.  Your home state has a default estate plan for you, but it might not be what you want.  The need for estate planning is not limited to the very wealthy.  Everyone needs some degree of estate planning, even young, single people with modest net worth.

Chris Donovan Law is skilled and experienced in this area, and are here to represent you in the counseling, drafting, and execution of a well-thought-out estate plan that will protect your assets and save you and your family money.  The foundation of your estate plan consists of various documents meant to outline your wishes.  These documents include:

• Revocable Living Trust (RLT), which allows you to transfer your assets to your loved ones, but has many other benefits not provided by a will. The RLT is an estate planning tool to which property and assets are transferred so that they pass to designated beneficiaries, by operation of law, upon your death without the need for probate.
• Last Will & Testament, which is a legal document that instructs how a person’s assets will be distributed after they die. Although we use a RLT to avoid the need for probate, we always draft a will that covers any assets that are not included in the trust.
• Durable Power of Attorney, which is a document that allows you to appoint someone to make personal/financial decisions on your behalf in the event of your incapacity. The use of a durable power of attorney allows those involved to avoid conservatorship, the complicated and expensive process by which the court appoints someone to function in this capacity.
• Health Care Directives, which are documents drafted to instruct others on how to handle an individual’s health care if they become incapacitated. A durable power of attorney can be used to appoint an individual to make health care decisions on the behalf of an incapacitated person.  A living will gives specific instructions about your health care decisions to loved ones and providers.
• Other Estate Planning & Asset Protection Services Include: using trusts in real estate transactions; asset protection strategies and trusts; avoid estate taxes and probate; charitable foundations; charitable trusts; community/marital property agreements; conservatorship planning/avoidance; disability planning; durable powers of attorney for health care and for asset management; estate tax planning and return preparation; family limited partnerships and limited liability companies; health care planning; insurance trusts; inter vivos trusts; living trusts; long term health care; offshore entities; pre- and post-nuptial agreements; and limited probate services.