The purpose of estate and trust law is to take care of you and yours when you cannot do it yourself. You can do a will to decide who gets what when you are gone. You can do many different kinds of trusts for the same reasons, and for a myriad of different reasons. You can ask the court to appoint you to take care of your parents and their assets. Or to appoint someone to do the same thing for your disabled child. You can plan your affairs so that your spouse’s standard of living will be protected if you need to go into a nursing home. Or so that your children might still receive some of your hard-earned life savings after you are gone, despite devastating long-term care expenses. You will need assistance with administering an estate, whether probate or trust, after a parent is gone. You can appoint someone to manage your assets if you get sick, and you can name someone to make medical decisions for you when you are unable to make them for yourself. Estate and trust law is there to protect you, your family, your intentions, and your assets when you cannot do it yourself.
Who: Everyone, including you, needs to consult an attorney who specializes in estate and trust law.
When: You need to come in sooner, not later. People often wait too long. If you die without making a will, the law makes one for you, but it might not at all be the will you would have made. If you become incapacitated, you cannot sign a power of attorney so that someone can handle your finances; someone will have to go to court to get the authority to do it. That is much more cumbersome and much more expensive than a power of attorney.
Why: Because you care. You have an obligation to the people you love to make your estate plan, and to get it done right.
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