Estate Planning Services
Wills
For most people, wills are required to dispose of property once someone dies. Wills work best for an uncomplicated and small estate where little money is involved.
Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney gives someone else the legal authority to handle your affairs while you are living. You might need a power of attorney because you are incapacitated or undergoing surgery. However, powers of attorney are not valid after someone has died.
Health Care Surrogates
A healthcare surrogate is someone designated to make medical decisions on your behalf. This is important because if, for some reason, you are incapacitated and cannot make a difficult medical decision, someone you trust should be there to act on your behalf.
Trusts
For those with complicated estates, namely those with larger amounts of money or complicated families, the trust is very exact in its purpose to dispose of assets in a manner at death. It does this by giving control of assets to a fictitious legal device, the trust, while one is still living so that the role of attorneys and courts is greatly reduced. While trusts are generally more expensive to create than a simple will, the later savings more than justifies their cost.