Estate Planning 101
Our estate planning attorney, Joseph McHugh and his skilled staff are passionate about helping you protect your assets and final wishes with wills, trusts, power of attorneys, health directives, etc. It is important to have your “affairs in order” just in case something bad happens and you are incapacitated or pass away unexpectantly.
What Will Happen If I Do Nothing?
If you do nothing and leave your estate and final wishes unattended, this can be disastrous in most cases. Do you want the California court system to decide how you want your end of life health care decisions made? Do you want the California courts to decide who gets your property?
It is important to plan for the worst case, so you can document your decisions about your estate, no matter how small it may be. If you do not properly plan for your estate’s distribution, your chosen beneficiaries may not get what you wanted them to receive and there may be legal court battles between squabbling family members.
Working with Joseph McHugh, our Estate Planning Attorney and Legal Team, you can create an Estate Plan that gives you the peace of mind that your property will be given to the intended heirs. You can rest knowing you have chosen the person(s) you would like to manage your estate in the event you become incapacitated or upon your death.
Without a proper Durable Power of Attorney, if you become incapacitated and you are unable to manage your finances, your family or the court system will be forced to establish a Conservatorship to legally be able help you manage your financial affairs. A Conservatorship is expensive, court intrusive and can be very stressful to your family. LA LAW Estate Planning Lawyers want to stress the importance of setting up a suitable estate plan in advance and any possible crisis. The best news would be that this planning never has to be enacted until you are a very old person at the end of your life.
What is An Estate Plan?
At a minimum, anyone over the age of 18 should have an Estate Plan that includes a Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and an Advanced Health Care Directive. However, in California, anyone with an estate valued over $150,000 in liquid assets or $40,000 in real estate (which means if you own a house in California!), should consider setting up a Living Trust for any property they may own. This helps your estate avoid costly and time-consuming PROBATE proceedings.
Just having a Will may not prevent Probate and if it is not properly drafted can be contested by other possible heirs in a court of law resulting in your wishes not being honored. There are many cases where bad relatives that should have been disinherited get a good portion of estates because of no planning or very poor planning. Creating an Estate Plan should be done with the guidance of an experienced Estate Planning Attorney that understands disability and public benefits, to prevent the possibility of your final wishes being ignored.
Online legal web sites that set up your Estate Plans, can be a risky scheme. If you want to make sure your wishes are legally documented, it is best to seek the advice of an attorney experienced in Estate Planning in California. Our Will and Trust Attorney can advise you if a Will alone is enough to secure your property and your final wishes or if your assets and estate would be better protected with a trust or other type of legal protection.
Call For Free Consultation
If you were asked, “What would happen to your assets if you were gone tomorrow?” Joseph McHugh, our Estate Planning Attorney can help you have peace of mind & be able to confidently say “Yes, I know exactly what will happen!”
After a thorough review of the best strategies for your estate plan and our fees for the scope of work, we will structure a comprehensive estate plan created specifically to protect your assets and allow you to stay in control of your life and your money.
Our Law Office is in Southern California; however, we serve many clients throughout the state and love an occasional road trip to help all of our clients, their family and friends. We are very proud of the many personal and professional referrals we receive from happy clients and colleagues. Please contact our office today to schedule a free consultation.