Estate Planning

Estate planning is the use of wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney and other vehicles to protect an individual's personal and financial decisions during their lifetime and beyond. A key objective of estate planning is asset protection. New tax laws were passed in 2001 which provide opportunities for individuals to preserve more of their estates for their heirs. The extent to which wealth can be preserved varies, depending on the year of death. With proper planning, you can create maximum flexibility in your legal documents so your estate pays the minimum death taxes. Experienced estate planning attorneys take into consideration the personal and economic circumstances of each individual and help minimize the impact of taxation on that person's estate.

What can estate planning do for me?

• Minimize estate taxes
• Provide for your loved ones
• Preserve inheritance for your children
• Preserve control over assets
• Clarify and protect your wishes to avoid family disagreements
• Appoint a guardian to care for minor children
• Control age at which children receive inheritance
• Create flexibility as tax laws change
• Simplify administration of your estate
• Protect assets from creditors
• Avoid unnecessary payments to federal government
• Select an individual to handle your affairs if you become incapacitated or die
• Avoid unnecessary legal expenses

Elder Law

Elder law is the special consideration of planning issues for those over the age of 50. An important goal of this planning is to avoid dissipation of your assets in the event that you or your spouse require long term care. The elder law attorney examines each client's unique combination of financial, personal, legal and medical needs in order to provide appropriate counseling and prepare individualized documents. Doug Fendrick is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

What can elder law counseling do for me?

• Avoid dissipation of life-long savings and protect assets from a nursing home
• Allow surviving spouse to maintain his or her standard of living
• Preserve estate for heirs
• Appoint an individual to assist with financial affairs and end-of-life decisions
• Plan and allocate finances for current and future medical and residential needs

Estate Administration

When an individual dies owning any property at all, an "estate" comes into being. Assets must be gathered, debts paid, tax returns filed and assets distributed. Estate administration encompasses all these tasks and more.

What can estate administration do for me?

• Guide the surviving family member(s) through the many issues which must be addressed during the difficult period following the death of a loved one
• Direct the surviving family member(s), executor or trustee through the federal, state and local tax requirements
• Advising the executor through the probate process
• Assist executor or trustee with distributing assets
• Prepare estate, inheritance and fiduciary tax returns
• Prepare IRS documents
• Minimize taxes through post-mortem tax planning

Special Needs Planning and Guardianships

Some families require special needs planning to secure the future of an individual, often a child, throughout that individual's lifetime. Benefits of such planning include:

• Preservation of government benefits
• Estate preservation
• Selection of a trustee to manage future financial and legal affairs for the individual with special needs

Guardianships may be established to assist families of incapacitated adults. Services include petitioning the court for establishing guardianship, contesting inappropriate appointments, and handling court-required approval of medicaid planning and end-of-life decision making.