Expert ESTATE PLANNING

As soon as you decide to get married, buy a house, or start a family, you should immediately start thinking about estate planning.  Some elements of estate planning are even important when your children are preparing to go to college, such as durable power of attorney and certain healthcare directives.  

There are significant impacts on your loved ones when the unexpected happens, and you have not properly prepared.  You will have given up your right to decide how your assets are handled, and the courts may decide to do things you would not have wanted.  Your family may be tied up in court for years, and incur huge expenses trying to fight for what you would have wanted them to have, or worse fighting outsiders regarding your healthcare or end-of-life decisions.  Proper planning can help eliminate these fears, and can give you piece of mind knowing that your family is protected.

Often people don't consider the implications of divorce or other complicated family dynamics on how your estate would be handled by the courts in the absence of a properly executed estate plan.  Most of us would not want our former spouse deciding if we should receive food and water or pain medication in the event we cannot speak for ourselves!  Without proper direction, doctors may not be able to discuss your situation with your loved ones, or may not even permit them to visit you.  At Spencer Law, we have seen these type of situations, and can help you develop a plan to preserve your wishes.

Some of the tools we use to build your estate plan include:

- Wills

- Trusts

- Durable Power of Attorney

- Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare (sometimes referred to as a LIving Will)

- Assignment of Benefits

- Beneficiary Designations

- Title considerations