Everyone has an estate. An estate plan allows you to provide for your family's future upon your death. This process can be overwhelming, emotional, and stressful. We can help!

Everyone has an estate. By definition, an estate is everything that you own, which includes all real estate, vehicles, jewelry, stocks, and money. While simple in theory, what happens upon your death? Who will receive your assets? This is where an estate plan comes in. Encompassing legal documents that provide instructions, an estate plan allows you to provide for your family’s future upon your death. This planning process can be an overwhelming, emotional, and stressful one. By hiring our law firm, we can help you with:

(1) MAKING A WILL AND IDENTIFYING YOUR BENEFICIARIES. While you can find a Will template online, it probably doesn’t actually fit your needs. Rarely do people’s lives, families, and assets fit into a cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all template. Meeting with an experienced estate planning lawyer can help make this process easier. Additionally, we're a great resource to use when allocating assets to beneficiaries. We will truly listen to your needs and offer advice when needed.

(2) HELPING AVOID PROBATE, IF NECESSARY. Probate is the court process for transferring a deceased person’s estate to the named heirs and beneficiaries. Going through probate can be expensive and time consuming, and the entire process is open to the public. Anyone who is willing to go to the courthouse can obtain copies of the Will and any legal documents associated with it.

Luckily, there are tools and techniques we can use to avoid probate. We can help you prepare and fund a Revocable Living Trust. If all of your assets have beneficiary designations, your estate can avoid probate. Additionally, if your estate consists of less than $100,000 of total property, a Small Estate Affidavit can be used to transfer assets from your estate to your heirs.

Hiring a lawyer can help to avoid probate entirely by ensuring that all your assets are designated correctly. Should your loved ones have to enter in the probate process, a lawyer can prepare them and help them in navigating the legal system.

(3) HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS. Probate laws are constantly updated, and chances are if you’re planning your own estate, you might miss a new law that could negatively impact your estate plan. A good estate planning lawyer will be up-to-date on the state probate code and know if or how changes will affect you and your estate plan.

(4) ENSURE YOUR HEALTH CARE WISHES ARE CARRIED OUT BY SOMEONE YOU TRUST. We can help advise on who the best person will be to carry out your health care wishes. Often, we choose a family member when emotionally that role might be better suited to a close friend who’s a bit more removed from the situation. We can act as an advisor to guide you on who might be best to serve in this role.

(5) PROTECT YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR LEGACY FOR THE FUTURE. A well-thought out estate plan will include elements such as your Will, list of beneficiaries, Durable Power of Attorney (should you become incapacitated), Directive to Physicians, and possibly other documents. This entire plan will ensure that your loved ones won’t have to jump through hoops upon your death. Meeting with a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer can ensure that these documents have all the details laid out properly.

(6) UPDATE AND MODIFY THE ESTATE PLAN WHENEVER NECESSARY. Estate plans can change over time. Why? Whether it’s a divorce, birth or adoption of a child, marriage, change in assets, purchase or sale of a small business, health, or even an out of state move – whatever the situation might be, you should plan to update your estate plan throughout your life. Usually in these scenarios, amending your estate plan is not top of mind, especially if you are busy with a new baby or a cross-country move. Once life slows down a bit, you can reach out and we can update your estate planning documents accordingly.

If you, a friend, family member, neighbor, or co-worker has questions about how an estate planning lawyer can help out, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to set up an appointment today. We represent and advise clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via video conference.