Avoid Probate & Estate Taxes

Avoiding probate is by far the most common reason why people seek out the advice of an estate planning attorney.

The significant loss of one’s estate to the payment of state and/or federal estate taxes or state inheritance taxes is a great motivator for many people to put an estate plan together.

Intestate Succession

Probate is the court-supervised process of authenticating a last will and testament if the deceased made one.

It includes locating and determining the value of the decedent’s assets, paying his final bills and taxes, then distributing the remainder of the estate to his rightful heirs or beneficiaries.

Trustees Management

Effectively resolved probate or trust administration also requires expert accounting and tax preparation.

A trust administration is NOT a court-supervised process, yet its ultimate goal is also the transfer of property from an individual who has died (the “decedent”) to that individual’s beneficiaries who are identified in the living trust.

Discarding Debt

Filing bankruptcy can help a person by discarding debt or making a plan to repay debts.

A bankruptcy case normally begins when the debtor files a petition with the bankruptcy court.

A petition may be filed by an individual, by spouses together, or by a corporation or other entity.
Estate Planning Attorney