| Estate
Planning
We
offer comprehensive simple and complex estate planning services
to clients in the Olympia area and throughout the South Sound Region,
including Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pierce and Thurston Counties.
Let our experienced and knowledgeable staff assist you in the creation
of your will, trust, power of attorney, community property agreement,
separate property agreement, living will, or more unique estate
planning device. Attorney Bruce Busch assists our Estate Planning
clients.
What
is an Estate Plan?
An Estate Plan is an effective legal arrangement that ensures that
your wishes are met should you pass away or become incapacitated.
Good estate planning is more than just a simple Will. Estate planning
can minimize potential taxes and fees, as well as provide contingency
planning to make sure your wishes regarding health care treatment
are followed. A good estate plan also coordinates what will happen
with your home, your investments, your business, your life insurance,
your employee benefits, and other property in the event you pass
away or become disabled.
What
Is An Estate?
The term "estate" consists of all the property a person
owns or controls, whether in his or her sole name, held in a partnership
or business, in a joint ownership arrangement, or through a trust,
and all other monies that would be generated on the person's death,
such as through life insurance. An estate includes:
*
real property and improvements (houses)
* personal property (automobiles, furniture, jewelry, art, collectibles)
* bank accounts, cash, stocks and bonds
* retirement plan benefits
* all businesses and business interests (sole proprietorships, partnerships,
corporations, joint ventures, and the goodwill, inventory, tools
and equipment, accounts receivable, and other business property,
etc.)
* powers of appointment (the right to direct who gets someone else's
property)
* life insurance, pension benefits, and pension plans, all debts
and obligations owed to others
Who
Should Have An Estate Plan?
You should have an estate plan if:
*
you are the parent of minor children
* you have property that you care about
* you care about your health care treatment
* you might fall under any or all of the above categories in the
foreseeable future
When
Should I Start My Estate Plan?
The only time that you can prepare and implement an estate plan
is while you are alive, have legal capacity, and are not being unduly
influenced by others. If you are unable to manage your own affairs
or suffer from some other disability which affects your legal capacity,
your estate plan may be effectively challenged by those who assert
that you lacked capacity at the time the documents were created
or that you were subjected to fraud, coercion or undue influence
during the creation and implementation of your plan. The best time
to start an estate plan is now, while you have the capacity to do
so.
Should
I Use A Lawyer?
Although you can probably predict our answer to this question, only
an attorney who regularly practices in the fields of wills, trusts,
probate and estate planning is able to provide you with sound legal
advice as you put your estate plan into place. Attorneys are subject
to regulation by the Washington State Bar Association, which has
continuing education requirements.
Often
the expense incurred in retaining an attorney to prepare and help
you put an estate plan into place is worth hundreds of times what
you and your family would pay with no planning or poor planning.
It may also avoid the financial and emotional nightmares that can
occur with a poorly drafted or improper plan or no plan at all.
Will
my estate be subject to Estate Tax?
Residents of Washington State are subject to the Federal AND Washington
State estate tax schedules. This area of the law is in a present
state of flux. Let us assist you in reducing your state and federal
estate tax liability during this time of uncertainty with flexibility
planning techniques.
Our
Objective
We take pride in our ability to help clients decide on their planning
goals so that they remain in control of the decision making process.
We seek solutions to issues that may concern retention of control
over property, ease of alteration to the estate plan, selection
of individuals who will best perform the tasks at hand upon death
or incapacitation, and preservation of a client's legacy and family
devotion through well thought out distribution schedules.
In
addition, we assist the individual in providing for the client as
well as the client's loved ones if the client becomes disabled.
By deliberately planning for their own disability, clients provide
the guidance and resources for their chosen helpers to care for
them when they can no longer do so.
We
also educate clients on the available options for the ultimate distribution
of their estates. For example, using the proper estate planning
techniques the amount and use of distributions can be influenced
through properly worded language in the will or trust instrument.
In addition, a properly drafted, proactive estate plan can insulate
a surviving spouse or other beneficiaries from catastrophic creditor
claims, provide for the special needs of a disabled beneficiary,
keep assets in their bloodline (remarriage protection), assure a
legacy for grandchildren (divorce protection), and transmit client
values through incentive trusts.
Finally,
we help the client look into the future to predict and control or
eliminate potential court costs while reducing the risk of family
feuds that often arise from incomplete or unorganized plans.
COMMON
ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Will
Sometimes called a "Last Will and Testament", this document
directs the transfer of property you hold in your name to named
beneficiaries. A Will also typically names someone you select to
be your Personal Representative (executor) to carry out your instructions
and names a Guardian if you have minor children. A Will only becomes
effective upon your death and after it is admitted to probate.
Community
Property Agreement
Only available in community property states, including Washington,
a community property agreement is a contract between spouses that
provides that all property owned by the decedent spouse vests immediately
in the surviving spouse upon the death of the decedent spouse. The
result is that in the right situations a community property agreement
can help to avoid the need for probate at the death of the first
spouse.
Separate
Property Agreement (Prenuptial, Antenuptial or Cohabitation
Agreements)
Becoming more and more common upon individuals that enter into relationships
later in life or with significant assets, a separate property agreement
is a contract between spouses or partners that identifies the characteristics
of property held by both spouses to ensure that ultimate distribution
in the event of divorce or death is to the satisfaction of each
party to the contract.
Living
Trust
This device can be used to hold legal title to and provide a mechanism
to manage your property. You can select the person or persons you
want -- often yourself -- as the Trustee(s) to carry out the instructions
you provide in the Trust. Unlike a Will, a Trust usually becomes
effective immediately, continues in force during your lifetime,
even in the event of your incapacity, and continues after your death.
Most Trusts are revocable which allows the person who creates the
trust to make future changes, modifications and even to terminate
it. (If the trust is "irrevocable", changes, modifications
and termination are very difficult, although such trusts often carry
some tax benefits). Trusts also may help avoid or minimize the expenses,
delays and publicity of probate.
Durable
Power of Attorney for Health Care
Appoints a person you designate to make decisions regarding your
health care treatment in the event that you are unable to provide
informed consent.
Health
Care Directive (Living Will and Directive to Physicians)
A directive that gives hospitals and medical staff your instructions
regarding providing or stopping health care treatment should you
suffer permanent incapacity such as an irreversible coma.
Durable
Power of Attorney for Property
Appoints a person you designate to act for you and handle financial
matters should you be unable or unavailable to do so.
Family
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
An entity created to own and manage your property, in a manner similar
to that of a Trust, but allowing additional tax planning techniques
to be employed. Family Limited Liability Companies are typically
used for those medium to large estates with need for specialized
estate planning in order to minimize federal and/or state estate
taxes.
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