Revocable living trusts

Estate Planning Law Firms will Protect and Manage your Assets

After you retire, you have more time to spend with your family. If you have children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, you are fortunate. However, having worked hard all of your life to build up your business didn't really leave you very much time to spend with them. Now you never miss a birthday, an anniversary or a holiday celebration. As well, being the generous person you are you start casually promising things like a college fund here and there, partnerships in the business, and who you'd like to see live on the estate. It's just too bad you never went to an estate planning law firm to work out all of the details, because the only person who got anything was your second wife. By the way, with the sale of all your non-liquid assets, your home, your business, and your late wife's jewelry, she was able to buy a beautiful condo in Palm Beach and had just enough left over so she never has to work again.

An estate law planning firm can see to it that the distribution and management of your assets will be done exactly as you please, while minimizing the costs of your estate taxes and the probate process. Without that kind of help, you may think you have properly made your final arrangements but your heirs may be in for some unpleasant surprises.

If you have a large estate to distribute, don't rely on your family lawyer or accountant to execute your final wishes and settle your affairs. When you are ready start making your final arrangements, you need to talk to an estate law planning firm. One of the things they will talk you about is the expensive and unexpected costs that will come up upon your passing. They will also help you plan so that these costs can be paid quickly, so they don't hold up the distribution of assets to your heirs. There is a lot to learn about passing on a large estate to the rightful heirs, so talking to someone with this expertise is invaluable.

Any one you owe money to at the time of your death has to be paid before any of the family can have anything. This is why it is important to have liquid assets available in order to clear up any bills that are outstanding, so that the family can start getting paid. An estate planning law firm can set this up for you.

There are many ways to make your estate look meager and non-taxable to the court in order to keep your estate intact and pass the bulk of it on to your family. The idea is to separate your estate from your assets and keep them out of the probate process. For this you will need help. An estate planning law firm can develop gifting strategies and living trusts that can be arranged to be available at a specified later date.

Finally, estate planning law firms can give you guidance in deciding on your final health care directive, or living will. A living will is designed to let your caregivers know what sort of health measures you want or do not want during your final illness, should you become incapacitated. And a power of attorney for will let you choose the person to be in charge of your health care if you are unable to express your wishes. Read more about estate planning at http://www.estatecontractstrusts.com

It's a simple reality that having a layman's understanding of inheritance laws is simply not and adequate foundation for ensuring that your final wishes regarding your estate will be honored. You need the professional advice available from estate planning law firms, with their knowledge both of the law and of financial planning.

Making sure that their final affairs are in order is the best way for most people to enjoy retirement, their family and their life. Talking to an estate planning law firm is the first step to stop worrying and start relaxing.

Learn more about protecting and conserving assets with estate trusts including advice on estate credit, revocable trusts, probate, estate planning living trusts and inheritance tax.