Wills & Trust

Estate planning is the process of planning for the ultimate distribution of your assets, taking into account your wishes, the wishes and needs of your beneficiaries. Estate planning requires an understanding of the various forms of ownership and the necessary legal documents that need to be created. The development of a comprehensive estate plan requires that you have an initial meeting with an attorney. This meeting usually takes about an hour. At the time we schedule this meeting, we will provide you a form you can use to list all of your assets. You can fill out this form in advance or Mr. Albrecht can help you go through it and fill it out with you during the meeting.
After reviewing your assets and your goals, your lawyer will prepare drafts of your estate-planning documents and send them to you for review. He will be available to answer your questions and make any changes you want. At the end of the process, you will have a meeting to sign the documents.
Your estate plan may include the following legal documents:

• A will or a trust.One advantage of a trust over a will is that your heirs will not need to go through the probate process. A trust is a very powerful tool for managing your assets. Mr. Albrecht will include a pour-over will so that any assets you have that are not in your trust are transferred into the trust upon your death.
• Power of attorney.This is the document you use to designate someone to act for you for financial purposes. This can be a current power of attorney or a springing power of attorney that does not go into effect unless you are incapacitated.
• A health care directive.This document has two parts. The first part concerns whether you want life-prolonging medical procedures if you are in a vegetative state or in a terminal condition that offers no hope of significant recovery. The second part names an agent to act for you in making decisions consistent with your directive if you are incapacitated.
  A trust will not do you any good unless you transfer your assets into it. We will give you a detailed instruction letter on how title your assets for your trust. We will also work with you in transferring assets to the trust if you wish. When real estate is transferred into a trust, your lawyer will prepare the deed to ensure that it is done properly.

Confidential Estate Planning Questionnaire in Microsoft Word format or Adobe PDF