Estate planning is an integral part of a comprehensive financial plan, particularly for business owners and those with children and grandchildren. A quality estate plan consists of more than just executing a Will, Trust, or other proper estate planning documents. Properly titling assets, life insurance planning, beneficiary planning for retirement accounts, annuities, and other financial accounts are all part of a complete estate plan.
Many think that estate planning is just for the wealthy, or that estate planning is all about minimizing estate taxes. While estate planning is important for the wealthy, and minimizing estate taxes can increase the net inheritance to beneficiaries, there is much more to estate planning than just passing down wealth from one generation to the next in a tax efficient manner. With the new federal estate tax laws, estate tax minimization strategies are unnecessary for the majority of Americans. What drives most estate planning decisions is the family dynamics, which may include medical issues, addiction and other behavioral issues, or blended families.
At Morris & Middleton LLC, we will review your financial situation, discuss your family dynamics, listen to your goals and concerns, explain the issues relevant to your situation, and discuss your options with you to formulate a plan. Then we will walk you through all of the actions needed to execute your plan. This may include assisting you with obtaining the proper life insurance, retitling assets, changing beneficiary designations, setting up LLCs, and drafting Wills, Trusts, Advanced Directives for Healthcare, General Powers of Attorney, and any other estate planning documents necessary to achieve your objectives. The customized documents prepared for your family’s estate plan will depend on your situation and may include Wills, Revocable Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts, Advanced Directives for Healthcare, General Powers of Attorney, Business Buy-Sell Agreements, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts, Charitable Lead Trusts, Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, and more.
We will guarantee a flat fee for our estate planning services, however, we do not have a set price for any particular service, such as Will Preparation, because every situation is unique. We customize every estate plan to fit our clients’ needs, and therefore we give custom pricing for each estate plan that we work on.
We are happy to run meetings via conference call, or to come meet at your home or office at any time that is convenient for you. Many of my estate planning clients are parents of young children. We understand it is difficult to schedule time for both parents to meet in the same place at the same time and also provide for child-care. At Morris & Middleton LLC, we pride ourselves on our client service, so let us know what is easiest for you and we will accommodate your needs.
Find answers to frequently asked estate planning questions here:
What if I have real estate in different states?
I have enough life insurance, why would I need a Will?
Why pay an attorney when I can download a Will on the internet for less money?