Estate Planning Services
As much as any other field of the law, and more than most, estate planning is a field in which an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure, for the simple fact that often estate planning errors may not be discovered until after death, when it is too late to correct them without significant additional expense, if they can be corrected at all.
You may be tempted to believe that, because you are not wealthy, you do not need to worry about estate planning as much as someone with millions of dollars. In many respects, however, you would be wrong.
It
is true that the wealthy may need to worry more about estate taxes,
and thus will rely on the use of more complex estate planning
strategies. However, with regard to basic estate planning, it may be
argued that those with smaller estates need to pay more attention to
their estate planning than those with larger estates. After all, if
the owner of a large estate makes a mistake in his or her estate
planning, it may take time and money to correct, or it may reduce the
amount ultimately passing to particular beneficiaries, but most
likely there will still be more than enough property left afterwards
to keep everyone happy. With a smaller estate, however, the cost of
correcting a mistake (or worse, the cost of a post-death dispute over
the estate plan) will take a proportionally larger share of the
entire estate.
An
individual's estate plan should be unique, based upon the particular
circumstances of the individual. A well-designed estate plan should
take into consideration, not only the size of the estate, but the
nature and means of ownership of the assets of the estate, the
individual's family structure and dynamic, the individual's estate
planning goals and intended beneficiaries, and the relevant probate
and tax laws. Because any or all of these factors can change from
time to time, an ideal estate plan should be designed to be flexible
enough to anticipate these changes and adapt accordingly.
I provide the following estate planning services:
Not every one of these estate planning strategies will be necessary or even desirable for every person. Used incorrectly, many can introduce unnecessary complexity into an estate plan, and can even cause more harm than good. Discussing all options with a qualified estate planning attorney remains the best way for a client to be assured that his or her estate is planned in the most efficient and effective way.
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All text and information on this website Copyright © 2003 by Geoff R. Casavant, P.C.; all rights reserved.