Estate Planning

In our opinion, just about everybody needs some type of estate plan, particularly married couples and single parents with children. The estate plan will ultimately determine who receives your assets at death, and if you don’t have a will, the courts will decide. They will decide who gets your car, home and possibly your children. Just think about the burden and the stress left on loved ones to try to figure out what’s best.

If you have significant assets, an estate plan can help preserve your wealth by considering how assets will be managed and utilized during periods of incapacity, minimizing estate taxes and helping to provide for your designated heirs.

An estate plan can also be designed to benefit your favorite charity, college/university or church. The three basic documents essential to an effective estate plan are listed below and should be constructed with the help of an attorney:

• Will
• Trust
• Power of Attorney (including Healthcare Power of Attorney)

.Planned giving is any major gift made in a person’s lifetime or at death as part of their overall estate or financial planning strategy.

A donor can gift cash, appreciated stock, life insurance, retirement plan, real estate, etc., which can be designed to benefit the charity now or at the death of the donor. Gifting arrangements can be crafted in a number of different ways and in most cases result in a significant tax savings to the donor or donor’s estate.

In addition, if you're a church or non-profit organization looking to establish an Endowment, Donor Advised Fund or Charitable Trust for planned giving purposes give us a call.