Estate Planning Attorney - Hymanson Law Firm

For clients that require tax and estate planning, we design strategies that fit the your needs to to transfer wealth to effectuate your wishes and minimize taxes.

The estate planning and tax strategies utilized include a myriad of tools to transfer wealth. This is done during your lifetime or after. They include wills, trusts, partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies. For those clients that want to leave monies to charities, we can design and implement plans that fulfill your needs.

Proper estate planning is necessary to have your plan carried out.

If you plan properly, your loved ones will be cared for and protected from creditors, divorce, and taxes. Below is a description of the various planning documents we provide to help you to take care of you and your family.

Revocable Living Trust

Estate Planning Documents New Jersey and New York A Revocable Living Trust distributes property much the same way a Will does. It accomplishes the distribution without probate court supervision or interference. Instead, a less expensive, less time-consuming, private process is used. The only technical difference is that the title to property is in the name of the Living Trust, and you, or you and your spouse, are the trustees. Many Living Trusts also incorporate credit shelter provisions to maximize tax savings for your heirs.

Privacy is another benefit often cited by Revocable Living Trust users in estate planning. When a person passes on, his or her Will becomes a public document and easily accessible. They will see which heirs received an inheritance and where they live. A Revocable Living Trust may never be seen by anyone other than the trustee(s). According to statistics, Wills are also far more likely to be successfully challenged than Living Trusts.

Our firm strongly believes that in cases when people have a primary goal of avoiding inheritance problems for their heirs, a Revocable Living Trust is the best way to transfer a person’s assets to their heirs, even if distributing a modest estate.

Last Will and Testament

A Will is the most common document used in estate planning for giving away possessions after death. This writing instructs a probate court on how to distribute your assets after all of your bills are paid. A properly drafted Will details what items and/or the percentage of the estate the heirs are to receive. Also, it states how taxes are handled. It can also include: legally-binding instructions on your desired type of funeral service and burial; a list of the people you want to administer your estate; names of those you want to take custody of minor children; and outline any age restrictions on the people receiving bequests.

In addition to handling the distribution of your property, a Will can also save money on estate taxes, keep money in trust for young beneficiaries, and provide guardianship nominations.

Irrevocable Trust

An Irrevocable Trust is a type of trust that can be utilized to protect your heirs from creditors, divorce, and minimize taxes. Irrevocable Trust are also used to assist in special needs planning for children and grandchildren.

Living Wills

A Living Will directs a doctor to use or not to use extreme life-saving measures, such as life-support, if you are in an irrecoverable coma or in a “persistent vegetative state.” In a standard Living Will, doctors are ordered either to withhold or administer life support and artificial nutrition. Because the Living Will was drafted, signed and notarized while the patient was conscious and of sound mind, doctors must follow the directives of a Living Will document. This not only allows you to make these important decisions ahead of time, but it also removes the burden of these difficult decisions from loved ones.

Health Care Power of Attorney

A Health Care Power of Attorney empowers someone else to make health decisions about treatment if you are incapacitated. This document covers instances where you are unconscious and a decision is needed regarding surgery or other treatment. Health Care Power of Attorney documents complement Living Wills in making sure your health care decisions are made by specific people you choose, so doctors have specific people to turn to for a decision. However, you make that final decision of withholding or giving life support in advance through a Living Will.

Far too many times a doctor is stuck waiting for the closest living family members to agree on a decision. The patient may also not want a particular person to be making such decisions, but never took the time to put it in writing. A wife may consider her husband too emotional to make such decisions, so she would prefer her brother make these decisions. A husband may trust his wife’s judgment, but would want a friend to make health care decisions if the wife is unavailable and having the decision fall to his mother. A Health Care Power of Attorney can prevent these kinds of issues before they come up.

Financial Power of Attorney

A Durable Power of Attorney empowers someone else to handle your financial and legal affairs while you are competent, after you become incompetent, or both. In many instances, these documents are used by married couples as a matter of convenience so that one spouse can close on a new home, change banking information, or other matters that require the approval of both. In other cases, it is essential for an elderly parent to give this power to a child or other loved one to handle their affairs if they are losing competency or to handle routine affairs for the household. It is also important for non-married individuals to appoint someone should they need assistance with their financial affairs.

Special Needs Estate Planning

Parents or grandparents of special needs children or grandchildren frequently go through life tackling difficult problems. They handle each task “one day at a time” not planning for the future. Special needs estate planning will ensure that your children and grandchildren are cared for when you are no longer able to.