Communicating Your Wishes And Preserving Your Assets

Preparing for both the unexpected and the inevitable is good planning. While you may have put a lot of thought into investing for retirement, many people don’t anticipate being in a serious car accident, having a stroke or succumbing to dementia. It is best to be prepared for any and all contingencies. Doing this now takes the burden off of your family should the unthinkable happen. At Quackenbush Legal, PLLC, we are here to offer seasoned guidance on this process.

The Many Tools Estate Planning Offers

Every family has its own goals and dynamics. We work closely with yours to provide a tailored estate plan that takes into account your circumstances, relationships and goals. We can create a plan that meets your unique needs by using the tools that make sense for you. You may need:

• A last will and testament (a will) that tells your family and loved ones “who gets what”
• A guardianship of minor children that tells your immediate and extended family who should raise your children if you and the other parent are unable to
• A financial power of attorney (POA) that designates someone to manage your financial affairs, either for a set amount of time or only during a time when you are deemed by a medical professional to be incapacitated
• A health care directive (living will) telling medical professionals which treatments or life support measures you want to receive and which you do not, and a designation for a health care proxy, someone who is in charge of communicating your wishes and making medical decisions on your behalf

You no longer need to meet with your attorney in person for many estate planning services. Utah has taken the lead on remote execution of wills by a notary. We are able to cover the whole state this way.

Advanced Tools That Make Sense For Elevated-Value Estates

If you own a business, a second home or vacation property, high-asset brokerage or mutual fund accounts or commercial real estate, it may be wise to use tools that were designed to protect and preserve these assets. Our attorneys are well versed in the use of different trusts and related legal strategies, including:

• Living trust/revocable trust – This provides access to your assets while you are still living but also offers some protection and preservation measures. This trust can also help your estate bypass probate.
• Irrevocable trust – This can include a marital bypass trust, life insurance trusts and others, which offer more ironclad protection from creditors, lawsuits, and the dissolution of your monetary assets.
• Special needs trust – This provides for a family member who is physically, developmentally or mentally disabled child or beneficiary while preserving their eligibility for government benefits.
• Spendthrift trust – You can control how and when an inheritance is distributed.
• Charitable giving trusts or directives – You can arrange to fund organizations that are meaningful to you and your family.

Today is always a good time to plan. However, these documents are not static. There are events in your life that may require changes or updates to your estate plan such as a birth, death, marriage or divorce.

Work With A Team That Stays Up To Date

At Quackenbush Legal, we take pride in producing high quality, up-to-date estate planning documents. When a new law is enacted by the Utah legislature, we’re updated within 24 hours. This means we offer responsive, accurate estate planning service. This is just one of the many reasons we believe we have the best document suite available for our Utah clients. Call 385-955-5901 or connect with our team via our online form.