Estate Planning
Two elements make estate planning difficult:
James Law Firm, P.L.L.C., can help you develop an estate plan that will allow you to achieve your goals.
Why You Need an Estate Planning Attorney
Many people have heard that someone "has a trust," or got their estate planning completed. Many people implement a "do-it-yourself" estate plan that saves the testator some money, but invariably it costs his family thousands of dollars. Estate plans are rarely simple, because estate planning requires consideration of community and separate property, incapacity, and other areas of law. Other questions include who will continue raising your children if you die young.
If you do not have a Last Will and Testament, Texas law has a disposition for your estate, and the method of distribution is undesirable and expensive. Rarely, has a client said, "I want my wife to have a life estate," and never has anyone said, "I want my wife to have a one-third life estate." However, those are some results in Texas law without a Last Will and Testament. Even if you have an heir who "knows the judge," the law does not know your heirs, and proof will be needed just to determine the heirs before even getting someone appointed to manage your estate.
If you become incapacitated, without a power of attorney, someone will need to get appointed as your guardian after thousands of dollars in legal and medical costs in a guardianship case. Yes, a simple document—a durable power of attorney—can avoid thousands of dollars in legal fees and possible heartache and strife among family members.
The Worst Case Scenario? Who will own a share of your business? Who will you be in business with if your business partner dies, divorces, or becomes incapacitated?
For example, consider a husband with children from a prior marriage, but none with his current wife. He dies without a Will. His community property share—even the husband and wife’s own community property home, even if the wife owes money on the mortgage—is now owned 50% by the children and 50% by the wife. If the husband owned any real estate before marriage, now the wife owns a 1/3 life estate in such real estate. Not many people decide to distribute their property in such a manner!
An Estate Plan Tailored To Your Needs
Our firm will help you create a plan that will work for your situation and will help you keep it updated for years to come. We meet with you, discuss your goals and assemble the necessary parts of your estate plan. It may include:
Every estate plan is different, and during the life of an estate plan, elements of it may change and need to be altered as your life, family, and business change.
Contact Our Firm for a Free Estate Planning Consultation
Two elements make estate planning difficult:
- Psychological. No one wants to think of his or her own death, so people procrastinate. This avoidance, however, will do nothing to change its inevitability.
- Technical. A comprehensive estate plan requires the knowledge of many different areas of law, including Wills and estates, property law, tax, powers of attorney, business law, trusts, and consideration of all of these elements together.
James Law Firm, P.L.L.C., can help you develop an estate plan that will allow you to achieve your goals.
Why You Need an Estate Planning Attorney
Many people have heard that someone "has a trust," or got their estate planning completed. Many people implement a "do-it-yourself" estate plan that saves the testator some money, but invariably it costs his family thousands of dollars. Estate plans are rarely simple, because estate planning requires consideration of community and separate property, incapacity, and other areas of law. Other questions include who will continue raising your children if you die young.
If you do not have a Last Will and Testament, Texas law has a disposition for your estate, and the method of distribution is undesirable and expensive. Rarely, has a client said, "I want my wife to have a life estate," and never has anyone said, "I want my wife to have a one-third life estate." However, those are some results in Texas law without a Last Will and Testament. Even if you have an heir who "knows the judge," the law does not know your heirs, and proof will be needed just to determine the heirs before even getting someone appointed to manage your estate.
If you become incapacitated, without a power of attorney, someone will need to get appointed as your guardian after thousands of dollars in legal and medical costs in a guardianship case. Yes, a simple document—a durable power of attorney—can avoid thousands of dollars in legal fees and possible heartache and strife among family members.
The Worst Case Scenario? Who will own a share of your business? Who will you be in business with if your business partner dies, divorces, or becomes incapacitated?
For example, consider a husband with children from a prior marriage, but none with his current wife. He dies without a Will. His community property share—even the husband and wife’s own community property home, even if the wife owes money on the mortgage—is now owned 50% by the children and 50% by the wife. If the husband owned any real estate before marriage, now the wife owns a 1/3 life estate in such real estate. Not many people decide to distribute their property in such a manner!
An Estate Plan Tailored To Your Needs
Our firm will help you create a plan that will work for your situation and will help you keep it updated for years to come. We meet with you, discuss your goals and assemble the necessary parts of your estate plan. It may include:
- Wills
- Trusts, such as Revocable Living Trusts: learn who is the right candidate for a living trust when you meet with James Law Firm, P.L.L.C.
- Durable powers of attorney
- Advance directives or living wills
- Estate tax and income tax planning
- Advanced estate tax planning: intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGT), spousal lifetime access trusts (SLAT), grantor remainder annuity trusts (GRAT), grantor retained unitrusts (GRUT), charitable remainder annuity and unitrusts (CRAT and CRUT), charitable lead annuity and unitrusts (CLAT and CLUT), and qualified personal residence trusts (QPRT), along with family limited partnerships (FLP).
Every estate plan is different, and during the life of an estate plan, elements of it may change and need to be altered as your life, family, and business change.
Contact Our Firm for a Free Estate Planning Consultation