Estate Planning

For many people, financial planning mainly focuses on building a secure nest egg and ensuring it lasts throughout retirement. For others, there is a desire to create a strategy that extends beyond their lifetime and allows their estate to provide lasting benefits and leave a meaningful legacy.

Why Estate Planning is Important

Leaving a meaningful legacy, whether to your family, loved ones, or a charitable cause, requires more than good intentions. It requires a carefully crafted Estate Plan. Without one, decisions about your estate may fall into the hands of individuals or institutions who do not share your values or intentions, including the state or courts.

An Estate Plan ensures that your assets are distributed according to your wishes and that your legacy is protected and preserved. If you want to remain in control of what happens to your estate, both now and in the future, putting a comprehensive plan in place is essential.

How We Can Help

Our Estate Planning service includes:

  • Education and advice on creating an appropriate will: Your will should be the cornerstone of your Estate Plan. We can guide you through the nuances of why and how you should structure this document so your legal team can create a will that reflects how you want your Estate disposed. From a simple will to a Testamentary Will, or Joint Wills and Living Wills – our experts will help you navigate through the complexities so you feel equipped to make the right decisions for your estate.
  • Guidance on creating Powers of Attorney (POA): Whether it's to manage your assets after you're gone or to guide healthcare decisions if you're incapacitated, having a Power of Attorney is essential. A well-crafted POA helps ensure your wishes are followed and that your final arrangements and estate are handled smoothly.
  • Choosing Executors: The Executors of your Estate determine how your Estate is finally dealt with upon your passing. We’ll walk you through the important criteria to  consider when choosing an executor(s) for your Estate – especially if minor children/guardians are involved.
  • Designating beneficiaries: Because beneficiary selection supersedes will or trust, it’s important to keep these up to date. If you don’t choose beneficiaries for your assets carefully (or at all!), your estate assets might well end up in the hands of individuals that you never intended.
  • Considerations for dependents needs: A well-thought-out Estate Plan will ensure that all the needs of your dependents (be they minors, adult children, siblings, persons with special needs, or aging parents) are taken care of in accordance with your desires.
  • Tax planning considerations: Without a thorough Estate Plan, a considerable part of your estate could erode through taxes, fees, and other levies, even before your designated beneficiaries see a cent! Your advisor will present suggestions for minimizing estate taxes and reducing probate fees so that your loved ones receive the max benefit possible.
  • Protecting your estate: Though you might no longer be here, many of your assets – like your long-term investments, property, and other tangible assets – will likely need care, protection, and management until they are finally disposed of and the proceeds distributed to your designated beneficiaries. In the absence of an Estate Plan, your assets will likely not receive the type and level of protection those assets require.
  • Health and welfare considerations: A comprehensive Estate Plan contains several components, including directives to your Executors and POA-holders about what to do in case your health (mental or physical) deteriorates. In the absence of those components of your Estate Plan, decisions impacting your health and welfare might be made by others (likely medical professionals or state-appointed representatives) whom you do not trust.
  • Distributing your assets/legacy: Without a proper Estate Plan, your assets might not be distributed in line with your final wishes. And because creating legally binding wills and ensuring the Estate Plan are in sync with the Will is essential to ensure proper distribution of your estate, our professionals can support you in this endeavor.