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Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to the questions we hear most about wills, trusts, guardianship and protecting what you have built.

Estate Planning

A last will is the legal document you use to spell out where the property held in your name should go once you have passed away. It is also the place where you appoint the person, often referred to as your executor or personal representative, who will be responsible for gathering and distributing what you owned.

When you die, that will is submitted to the probate court so your estate can be settled through the court system. The good news is that court involvement is not inevitable. There are several planning strategies that let you spare your family the probate process entirely, and we walk you through those options together during a Life & Legacy Planning® Session.

An attorney becomes essential the moment you decide you do not want to hand your loved ones a tangled situation to sort out. Plenty of do-it-yourself kits exist today, and some people even lean on a financial advisor or CPA to handle their planning. The catch is that this path often produces documents that look complete but quietly fall apart at the worst possible moment, dropping your family into court or conflict even when you were certain your circumstances were straightforward.

You have probably seen the headlines about wealthy public figures whose estates unraveled because they tried to shortcut the process or leaned on the wrong kind of help. So if you assumed you could take care of this yourself, there is no shame in that at all. Now that you are here, let us protect your family from the very real fallout that comes from misunderstanding what is at stake.

By far the question we field most often is what a will, a trust, or a full estate plan actually costs, and that is completely reasonable. It is precisely why we set our fees on a flat, no-surprises basis, and why our Life & Legacy Planning process is built to guide you toward the fee that truly fits you and the people who depend on you.

We are not able to name a number online or over the phone, because a real quote requires us to understand the details of your particular situation first. Instead, our Life & Legacy Planning approach helps you land on your own fee based on your family, your assets, and what you want to accomplish. That is right, you set the fee yourself, so you can feel confident you are paying exactly what makes sense for you.

A trust is an arrangement between a Grantor, the person placing assets into the trust, and a Trustee, the person or organization that legally holds those assets, to manage them for a Beneficiary, the person meant to enjoy their benefit. When a trust holds title to your property, that property sidesteps the court process if you become incapacitated or pass away.

In a typical Revocable Living Trust, you personally fill all three roles during your lifetime. Then, if you become incapacitated or die, a Successor Trustee you have named simply steps into your shoes and makes sure the assets reach the Beneficiaries you chose. Trusts can also be irrevocable, which is useful for shielding assets or managing estate taxes, and those carry tax implications you will want to weigh carefully alongside a trusted attorney.

Not at all, and honestly the reverse is closer to the truth. If you are not wealthy, a broken or missing plan can hit your family especially hard. Every adult already has an estate. When you skip planning for what happens if you become incapacitated or die, you hand the people you love a heavy task, and they may lack the time, the know-how, or the funds to carry it out.

Poor planning is one of the main reasons family wealth erodes from one generation to the next rather than building over time. If your goal is to create lasting wealth for the generations who follow you, the time to plan is now.

Your estate plan remains valid wherever you happen to be within the United States, whether you are traveling through another state or relocating there for good. That said, we always suggest connecting with a Personal Family Lawyer® in your new area to look over a plan created elsewhere, so you can confirm whether any adjustments are needed to reflect the laws of that state.

Kids Protection Planning

It does not, because a last will can only protect your children in a limited way. For one thing, a will does not take effect until after you die and the court has accepted the document, yet there may be moments well before your death when your children urgently need a guardian in place.

For another, naming the people who would eventually raise your children is a separate matter from arranging short-term guardians who can step in during a brief emergency. A Kids Protection Plan® leaves nothing to chance and no scenario unaddressed. You designate both short-term and long-term guardians, and you make certain that everyone you trust has the exact information they would need, right at their fingertips, to care for your children at a moment’s notice.

When it comes to protecting your children, the strongest results come from working with a lawyer who handles kids protection situations day in and day out. The reality is that some families come apart after a parent dies, either because no planning was ever done or because it was pieced together through an online service that understood nothing about the most thorough way to safeguard children.

We believe in building a lasting relationship between you and your estate planning attorney, so that you have a lawyer for life who can show up for your children when you no longer can.

Cost is the question we hear most, and that is perfectly understandable. That is why every one of our fees is flat, so you always know exactly what you are agreeing to, with no surprises waiting for you.

We cannot give you a price online or over the phone, since a genuine quote depends on the details of your specific circumstances. What we can tell you is that our Life & Legacy Planning® process is designed to help you arrive at your own fee based on your family, your assets, and your wishes.

Picture a Kids Protection Plan as one part, an especially important part, of your broader estate plan. And keep in mind that an estate plan is far more than a last will, even though many people assume otherwise.

If you are a parent of minor children, you need both pieces: the standard estate plan every adult should have, plus the Kids Protection Plan that every parent of young children needs.

Asset Protection

Only certain assets are a good fit for an asset protection trust. Once you pinpoint which of yours qualify, you can move those valuable assets into the trust to guard them against creditors you may not even know about yet. That transfer protects the assets during your lifetime, and it also shields them from the IRS after you die.

There are trade-offs, though. These can include your existing or anticipated exposure to creditor claims, the personal control you give up over how an asset is handled once it is transferred, and possible gift tax consequences. Which assets belong in such a trust really comes down to your particular situation, including where you live, where your business was formed, and where your assets sit.

On top of that, some assets are considered exempt, meaning permanently protected from creditors, and each state draws that line for itself.

In asset protection planning, the best outcome for you and everyone you love comes from working with a lawyer who deals with these situations every single day. You have spent your whole life building what you have, so we urge you not to trust an online form, a piece of internet software, or a fill-in-the-blank template to look after your family the way they truly deserve.

Cost tops the list of questions in asset protection planning, and that is completely fair. For that reason, all of our fees are flat, so you know exactly what you are committing to, with no surprises.

We are unable to quote a price online or over the phone, because we first need to understand the specifics of your situation. Our Life & Legacy Planning® process is instead designed to help you settle on your own fee based on your family, your assets, and your goals.

If you have a retirement plan, federal law keeps creditors from reaching it. That protection covers profit-sharing plans, pensions, and 401(k) accounts. Traditional and Roth IRAs, however, may or may not be protected depending on the circumstances. We work alongside you so you understand exactly where you stand in your own case.

It does, provided it is done correctly. Asset protection rests on a simple principle: nearly any asset you own can be taken from you by a creditor, while an asset you do not own cannot. In essence, the strategy is about separating your ownership of an asset from your control over it, which lets you continue enjoying the economic benefits of your assets while keeping them out of a creditor’s reach.

One important caveat: we do not build plans meant to dodge a creditor who is already known or likely, because by that point this kind of planning has come too late.

Special Needs Planning

There is no single kind of special needs trust, and which one suits you or your child depends entirely on your circumstances. In nearly every case, though, these trusts are built to let you pass your assets to your child in a way that allows them to enjoy what you leave while still qualifying for the government benefits their situation calls for.

Some of these trusts are revocable, meaning you can revisit and adjust the terms as time goes on, while others are irrevocable, meaning your ability to manage the transferred assets or change the terms later is limited or gone entirely.

In special needs planning, the strongest result comes from working with a lawyer who handles these matters daily. Sadly, some families fall apart after a loss because they either did no planning or relied on an online platform that knew nothing about their family or their child’s needs, a platform that ultimately failed them right when their child needed help the most.

We encourage a lifelong relationship between you and your estate planning attorney, so you have a lawyer for life who can be there for your family, and your child with special needs, when you no longer can.

Cost is the question we hear most, and understandably so. That is why we set all of our fees on a flat basis, so you always know exactly what you are agreeing to, with no surprises.

We cannot quote a price online or over the phone, since a real answer depends on the particulars of your situation. Our Life & Legacy Planning® process is instead designed to help you land on your own fee based on your family, your assets, and your wishes.

The amount of government benefits any one person qualifies for is highly individual, and it can shift over time as the laws change. There is no single answer that covers everyone, and every child with special needs is different. That means every special needs trust will be different too, which is exactly why you should work with a qualified attorney rather than fill-in-the-blank software.

Throughout all of the planning we do, we consistently encourage our clients to write a letter of intent in their own words. This is a single document that captures the important details a guardian would need to care for and raise your child with special needs exactly as you would.

A letter of intent typically covers your child’s medical and educational history; their likes, dislikes, and daily habits; and your hopes for their future, including living arrangements, work, and lifestyle. Think of it as a roadmap for the guardian, one that eases the disruption during what will be an emotional time of change.

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