Estate Planning
Prepared Planning
We know that thinking about death is something that doesn’t come easy to most people. And, that it won’t be easy for the people that you leave behind. We are here to try and make it easier for you and your loved ones.
Our estate planning counselors will guide you through the ins and outs of planning for the future to keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict. All the decisions will be yours, and yours alone, with our guidance. Have you ever considered what you would want to happen to you if you were on life support? Who would take care of your finances? Who would make your medical decisions? Who would take care of your minor children? Being prepared through prepared planning takes the guess work out of all of those questions.
Some things to ponder and to discuss with our counselors:
Do I need a revocable living trust?
We can discuss the value of your estate and what a trust involves. Remember over the years the goal is to grow your estate so even if you don’t need one now, you may in a few years as things change. Having a revocable living trust is one way of staying out of court.
Do I need a will?
We will discuss the benefits and downsides of having a will-based plan
Do I need a power of attorney?
Powers of attorney are valuable in the event you cannot make decisions for yourself for any reason for any length of time
Can I do these things on line for myself?
Yes, but should you? (If this is the right decision for you, we would tell you)
Can we afford this?
Our plans are flat-fee based with no hidden hourly rates and no charges you won’t know about up front. We will never charge you by the hour to design your plan.
Anyone who has ever lost a loved one (or knows someone who has) without an estate plan, can attest that the grieving coupled with worrying about the people and the “stuff” made the process that much harder.
In California, if you die without a plan in place there is a very likely chance your estate will go through probate (the process of administering an estate in court) before anything gets distributed to your loved ones. Probate is expensive and time-consuming. Sixty percent of Californians do not have any estate plan in place. And even if you think you don’t “have anything” or a plan wouldn’t be worthwhile, consider that you may become incapacitated before you die, and someone has to take care of things, while you cannot.
Our firm focuses on people from all walks of life, including all families, single persons, blended families, LGBTQ families, multi-generational families, veterans, persons with special needs and special needs kids and everyone in between.
We also review existing plans for updates, modifications, or revocations, and counsel our clients on the best possible path for them.
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