WHYYOUNEEDAWILL
Manypeoplethinkthatawillisonlyforthosewhowant tosetuptrustsorsavetaxes Thatmaybeonebenefit Buttheprimaryreasonformakingawillistoleaveyour propertytothoseyoucareaboutandintheproportions youchoose.
ESTATEPLANNING
EstatePlanninginvolvestransferringwhateveryouown towhomeveryouwantatthetimeyouwant Thismaybe bywayofawill,trust,orothermethod.
J&GLaw,LLPhasdeeprootsinthisarea Thefirm'steam approachcoupledwithourexperiencedattorneys providesaccesstosomeofthebestlegalservicesinthe HudsonValley.Thisapproachcanraiseestateplanning wellabovethemeredraftingofawill.
WHATHAPPENSIFYOUDIEWITHOUTAWILL
Ifyoudiewithoutawill,thepropertyinyourname,in mostinstances,willbedistributedamongyourfamily membersaccordingtostatelawandperhapsnottheway youprefer Forexample,ifyoudiewithoutawillandare survivedby:
Aspouseanddecendants-yourspousetakesthefirst $50,000andone-halfthebalanceofthepropertyand thedescendantssharetherest
Spousebutnodescendants-yourspousetakesall Descendantsbutnospouse-descendantstakeall Parent/parents,nospouse,nodescendants-the parentorparentstakeall
Parents'descendantsbutnocloserrelatives-the parent'descendentstakeall
Where'descentants'includeamixofgenerations, livingchildrentakefullequalsharesandanychildren ofpredeceasedchildrendividethecombinedsharesof alltheirdeceasedparents
AWILLISYOURPERSONALPLAN
Awillistailoredtoyourownparticularneeds.Youname an"executor"whoisthepersonyouwanttohandleyour property.Anexecutorcanbearelative,friend,your lawyer,orabankthatspecializesinhandlingestates.The executorwilladministertheestatetomakesureproper proceduresarefollowedandassetsaredistributedasthe deceasedwished
Thechoiceofanexecutorisyoursonlyifyoumakeawill. Yourealizethevalueofhavingqualifiedpeoplehelpwith youraffairsduringyourlife.Itisjustasvaluableafter youdie
Howdoyouprepareawill?Canyouobtainsomeprinted formsandcompletetheminyourhandwriting?You could,butyoumightnothavealegalwillandyoumay nothavethebestwillforyoursituation.
Therearemanystoriesabout"doityourself"wills The desiretoavoidafeehasresultedindelays,increased costs,andfrustrationofplansthatwereheldtobe invalid.
HOWTOMAKETHEBESTWILLFORYOUR PERSONALPLAN
Makingthebestplananddraftingthebestwilltakes knowledgeandprofessionaladvice Forexample,did youknowthatpropertyheldjointlymaynotbe distributedbyawillorthatlifeinsurancemayormay notbedistributedbywilldependinguponwhois namedasbeneficiary? Thisalsoappliestoindividual retirementaccounts,pensionplansandsimilarassets Didyouknowthataspousehasarighttoacarandtoa largeshareoftheotheritemsofpropertynomatter whatawillsays? Thebestplanrecognizesthatyour willisonlypartofthetotalplanfordistributionofyour property.
Tolearnmoreaboutwills,trusts,guardianships, Medicaidassetprotectionandmore,contactus.
