Our Estate Planning Services

This is a will-based estate plan consisting of four must-have estate planning documents:

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• Basic Last Will and Testament;

• Durable Power of Attorney;

• Health Care Power of Attorney; and

• Living Will.

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Clients have the option of adding the HIPAA Authorization Form as a 5th document.

 

The Core Four is the perfect starter plan. It's great for college students, young professionals, and newlyweds just starting out in adulthood. 

 

The Core Four does not have sufficient protections, however, in situations where there are heirs under the age of 18.

Unlike the Core Four and The Child Protection Plan, this plan uses a revocable living trust as the primary planning tool. In addition to the documents included in the Core Four, this package also includes:

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• A Revocable Living Trust for privacy and probate avoidance purposes;

• HIPAA Authorization Form;​

• Deed to transfer one property to trust;

• One additional planning session with the attorney; and

• One month of trust funding assistance.

 

This is one of our most popular plans. However, the trust that is part of The Privacy Plan does not allow for the retention of assets post-death. As such, it is not an appropriate choice when there are trust beneficiaries who are under the age of 18. It may also not be the best choice for blended families or situations where one spouse's inheritance from the other spouse should be limited (e.g., one spouse suffers from dementia, concerns about potential remarriage after death that could disinherit kids, etc.).

 

To learn more about revocable living trusts and the benefits they offer, check out our video series, The 5 P's of Revocable Living Trusts.

This is also a trust-based plan and is our most comprehensive pre-packaged plan, which makes it another one of our most popular plans. The Family Legacy Plan includes everything in the Privacy Plan plus the ability to retain assets in trust after your death to:

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• Preserve the inheritance for young or financially unsophisticated heirs until some later point after your death;

• Safeguard assets from your heirs' creditors, predators, divorce, or lawsuits;

• Provide resources to your child's Guardian;

• Schedule trust distributions for specific life events (college, 1st home purchase, wedding, starting a business, etc.);

• Supplement the financial needs of an heir who may become disabled in the future; 

• Foster generational wealth; and

• Shield against substance abuse issues.

 

This package also includes elements of the Child Protection Plan such as:

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• Language in the Will to establish a permanent guardian upon your death;

• ​Designation of Standby Guardianship for emergency or short-term situations; and

• Consent for Health Care of a Minor.

 

Lastly, the spousal remarriage protections that are the driving force behind the Keep It Safe Plan are included here at no additional cost.

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This plan is perfect for those whose heirs include children under the age of 18 as well as heirs over the age of 18 who need more structure and guidance to their inheritance.

This is a will-based estate plan consisting of everything under the Core Four plus special language in the Last Will and Testament to:

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• Designate the Guardian for your minor children upon your death; and

• Establish a Testamentary Trust to protect your child's inheritance until your child reaches a particular age.

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This plan includes the HIPAA Authorization Form that is an add-on under the Core Four plus two more documents to address the needs of minor children:

 

• Designation of Standby Guardianship for emergency or short-term situations; and

• Consent for Health Care of a Minor.

This is a trust-based plan that includes everything under The Privacy Plan. The difference is that the trust included in this package contains language to:

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• Shield assets from getting into the hands of a "new" husband or "new" wife in the event your spouse remarries after your death;

• Protect against the accidental disinheritance of your children upon spousal remarriage; and

• Provide your spouse with pre-defined access rights to the principal and income of the trust up to the point of remarriage.

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The main goal of this plan design is to safeguard your children's inheritance. As such, the spouse's access to trust assets after your death is restricted. This is the opposite of how the trust under The Privacy Plan. works. There, the spouse receives all of the assets outright and free of trust (aka no strings attached) after your death. 

 

A Right of Occupancy provision can be a useful tool for this trust design.

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As with the Privacy Plan, however, the Keep It Safe Plan is not appropriate if there are trust beneficiaries under the age of 18.

These 5 packages are designed to allow clients the ability to choose their ideal protection level and the investment they want to make in their family. Aside from the Keep It Safe Plan, pre-packaged plans are available for both individuals and married couples.

 

Still, these packages are not designed to cover every family situation. For example, pet owners, gun owners, business owners, landlords and real estate investors, and those that need sophisticated tax planning or who are high net worth individuals may require additional planning and may need to add various components to a pre-packaged plan.

 

Some of the more common add-ons are:

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• Client Care Program membership;

• DocuBank enrollment;

• Additional property deeds;

• Revocation of previously recorded Durable Power of Attorney;

• Pet trusts;

• Gun trusts;

• Assignment of receivables to trust;

• Stand-Alone Retirement Trust;

• Pre-planning document review

• Vetting corporate fiduciary to serve as Trustee and coordination of same;

• Assignment of LLC interest or other corporate interest to trust;

• Transfer on Death designations for corporate stock; and

• Other business-related services 

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Please note that we do not prepare Special Needs Trusts or Medicaid Planning Trusts.