ESTATE PLANNING
PLANNING FOR EVERYONE YOU LOVE AND EVERYTHING YOU HAVE
Do You Really Know?
Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what would happen legally and financially to you, your loved ones, your money and everything else you care about if something unexpected happened to you?
If you have an estate plan and it is out of date, your assets could be lost to the state department of unclaimed property or to an unnecessary and public court process.
If you do not have an estate plan, then the state has a plan for you, and it's probably not what you want.
Here’s the bottom line: If you do not know exactly what would happen to everyone you love and everything you own, then the first step is to find out exactly what would happen legally and financially so that you can decide if the current state of your affairs is okay with you.
How Do I Help You With Estate Planning?
We meet together for your Life & Legacy Planning Session where the sole purpose is to get you more informed.
Before your Life & Legacy Planning Session, you will complete your Life & Legacy Inventory & Assessment, which will help you to get clear about what you own and what you have to think about when it comes to planning for the well-being and care of your loved ones and your belongings.
If you decide the current state of affairs is unacceptable, and if we both decide that it is a fit to work together, then we will design an estate plan that best suits the needs of your family.
“Can I DIY My Estate Plan?”
This is a common question! Unfortunately, a DIY plan often does not work because much of what passes for estate “planning” is little more than word processing.
You answer a few automated questions and then the drafter (normally just software, not a human being) decides which “plan” is right for you. And then you are forced into a template document that may not reflect your needs or situation whatsoever.
While many DIY plans are available, choosing to DIY can have unintended consequences. I recently heard a story where a couple did their own estate planning without fully understanding the choices they were making as they checked the boxes. After the husband passed away, when it was too late to make changes, his widow realized she was locked into an irrevocable trust that prevented her from accessing the funds except in cases of a medical emergency!
The value you derive from working with an estate planning attorney is not just in the documents...it is in the advice and guidance about what gets written into those documents.
Professional Estate Planning at Snider Law, PLLC
As your Personal Family Lawyer®, I will educate you and take the time to get to know you, your family, your concerns, your goals and your issues. I will gladly and patiently answer all of your questions to design an estate plan that is right for you with the goal of keeping your loved ones out of court and out of conflict.