Guidance You Can Trust

Estate planning makes sure that you and your loved ones are cared for in the manner that you want at a time when you can’t express your wishes because you are incapacitated or have passed away.  Estate Planning involves techniques and tools to minimize or eliminate costs, expenses, and taxes for your loved ones.  We can help keep the family from getting bogged down in the court system, protect your children’s inheritance in case they get a divorce or go through a lawsuit, and protect a surviving spouse from a predatory marriage.  Estate planning gives you the power to protect your family, even when you can’t be there for them.  Good estate planning will also make it easier on your loved ones when you pass away and make sure they aren’t left with a mess at the worse time possible.  The documents commonly used when doing estate planning are a durable power of attorney for financial affairs, a power of attorney for healthcare, a living will, HIPAA authorization, a last will and testament, and sometimes things like trusts or transfer on death deeds may be used to help accomplish goals. 

A Last Will and Testament (or Will) is a death document.  This provides the instructions of who you want to handle things and where you want things to go upon your death.  You can include a guardian for minor children, trusts for children or spouses, and much more.  A Living Will is medical document regarding life sustaining treatment measures that can instruct your healthcare providers how you want your medical treatment handled if you cannot express your wishes yourself.

Elder law planning is the planning done for long-term care as we age.  Specifically, we focus on asset protection planning for when, not if, a long-term care event strikes.  Even if someone is in a nursing home, it’s not too late to do asset protection planning. 

Business planning from the legal side includes everything from business formation for a startup, protecting and increasing value through solid contracts, employee training, and monetizing intellectual property, to business succession planning and transitions.  While business owners are inarguably smart and capable people who like to get stuff done and often are doing things themselves, our business attorneys can help navigate the ever-increasing tax and legal requirements of running a business, and help make sure what you have built stays protected from lawsuits and minimizes taxes.  We believe good business planning helps build your business and private wealth up and protects it so it can’t be torn down, especially by other lawyers or the IRS.