Estate Planning
In order to take steps to ensure that your loved ones are provided for and that your healthcare requests and final wishes regarding your property are honored, one can plan their estate. You can get more information by contacting Thomas Hogan Law Firm, a renowned Estate Planning Attorneys in California.
An inclusive estate plan can solve numerous legal issues that may arise when some passes. Some of the legal concerns that can be resolved in estate planning are:
- Financial Affairs
- Real and Personal Property
- What property will be left to family and loved ones
- If you have minor children, appointing a guardian
- Payment of taxes in order to transfer ownership of property
- Appropriate funeral arrangements
What is an “Estate”?
An “estate” encompasses all the property one owns at the time of their death, including:
- Real estate
- Bank accounts
- Personal property like as vehicles and jewelry
- Stocks and other securities and life insurance policies
No matter a person’s age or the size/complexity of their estate, the estate plan can accomplish in a number of things:
- Identifying family members and loved ones that you want to leave property to.
- Ensuring that property will be transferred quickly and with little legal hurdles to the individuals you have identified.
- Minimizing the taxes that will have to be paid for the property to be transferred after your death.
- Avoiding costs and time that is associated with the probate process through using estate planning devices such as “payable on death” bank accounts or a living trust.
- Establish what kind of life-prolonging medical care you would prefer to receive in the event you are unable to make your wishes known.
- Dictate what funeral arrangements you want and how you would like to pay for such arrangements.
Estate Administration
When a person passes away, his or her estate must be gathered and managed, including but not limited to: paying any debts of the deceased, collecting the assets of the estate, and handing out any remaining assets. State legislatures in recent years have tried to reduce the complication surrounding estate administration. The Uniform Probate Code (UPC), is designed to simplify the estate administration process and give uniformity to probate laws from state to state, we are experts in this area of law and can provide legal guidance and planning suggestions.
