Estate Planning

My goal as an estate planner is to assist you with putting your financial affairs in order. A major reason to do this is to avoid the court's involvement in your finances, which can happen if you are rendered incompetent, or at your death. With a comprehensive plan which includes a variety of documents, you can arrange your affairs to protect yourself, your family and the people you care about, and provide for the orderly transfer of your estate upon your death.

I've been drafting wills, trusts, powers of attorney and related documents for twenty-five years. I keep current by attending courses, reading, and maintaining my membership in the State Bar "Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law" Section. I'm also on the Council on Aging's Legal Referral panel of attorneys.

My procedure begins with prospective clients filling out an estate planning questionnaire. Then we meet, and, using your questionnaire answers, I assist you in developing an estate plan. I then use specialized computer software which streamlines the drafting of all your documents. After you review the drafts, we meet again for signing the final documents, including any that need notarizing. Finally I provide detailed instructions on what needs to be done in order to implement your estate plan and maintain it in the future.

The standard estate planning documents include:

  1. Advance Health Care Directive
  2. Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Management
  3. Revocable Trust
  4. Pour-over will or simple will
  5. If married, a Marital Property Agreement
  6. Miscellaneous ancillary documents which assist in implementing the estate plan.

People who educate themselves about estate planning will better understand their planning choices and should minimize attorney fees. However, it is not advisable to draft one's own estate planning documents, particularly if estate tax issues are present. I suggest having your plan and documents prepared, or at least reviewed, by a qualified attorney. Below is a list of resources to help you prepare for a planning meeting with an attorney:

www.nolo.com
Nolo Press publishes a large variety of self-help books with several in the estate planning area, and provides an opportunity to find the answers online to general estate planning questions.

www.savewealth.com/planning/estate
This guide to estate planning is easy to understand because it breaks the information into topics, such as "Why Plan Your Estate?" and "The Perils of Probate."

www.estateplanninglinks.com
This is a link to wealth preservation resources on the Internet. For consumers and estate planning professions, this site contains hundreds of well-organized, time saving links to estate planning, elder law, tax and related websites.

www.nafep.com
This source focuses on the proper methods of holding legal title during your life and passing your estate on to your heirs in a manner and timing of your choosing, all with minimum taxes and intervention by the legal system.

Gail Jonas: Mediator and Attorney