PLANNING FOR WHEN YOU ARE GONE

When someone dies they leave affairs that need to be addressed: children and pets to be cared for, assets to be transferred, businesses to be wrapped up, and debts to be paid. Planning prior to your passing will help your family celebrate your life instead of worrying about the matters that are left behind. There are several ways to plan out and manage your affairs before your passing, including Formal probate, Small estate, or Trust administration.

The method that is used and the difficulty of the process will depend on the planning that was done in advance, the assets and issues left behind, and the people involved. If you have lost a loved one, we encourage you to schedule a consultation to find out what method would best address your circumstances, what will be involved in that process, and whether you are qualified to act as the deceased’s personal representative.

Learn more about managing after-life affairs

If you are qualified to serve as personal representative, we can assist you in starting the process and advise you each step of the way to make sure that you follow the law, have the resources to support good decisions, and can resolve any conflicts that arise. Our goal is to take care of everything as efficiently as possible to maximize the assets available to take care of the deceased’s loved ones and beneficiaries. We have worked hard to break the process down into manageable steps and are there to assist you as much or as little as you need.

If you are a heir or beneficiary of an estate or trust and are concerned about how the estate is being managed we are happy to meet with you to discuss your rights. Beneficiaries and heirs are entitled to notice and information about the status of the estate and for the estate to be managed efficiently and wisely. Where that isn’t happening, we work with clients to help get the process back on track. We feel it is important, however, that all heirs and beneficiaries are aware that resolving these issues through traditional litigation in the courts can be time consuming, expensive, and destructive to personal relationships.

Benefits of Probate & Guardianship

• Understanding authority granted by Durable Powers of Attorney and record keeping obligation
• Negotiating care plans and documenting Care Contracts
• Understanding the impact of spending and gifting on future eligibility for public benefits
• Properly administering special needs trusts

These issues are usually best resolved by proactively seeking legal advice and working cooperatively with all parties with a great deal of transparency, honesty, and thoughtfulness. Where conflict does arise, we recommend that clients attempt to resolve these issues through informal conflict coaching and negotiation, mediation or collaborative law before considering court intervention.

In cases where planning hasn’t been done before the disability or where the plan is not sufficient to care for the individual, the only option may be guardianship. In a guardianship, the courts are asked to intervene, find the individual to be incapacitated, and to appoint a Guardian. The Guardian accepts responsibility for the financial and personal needs of the individual. As a result, he or she must report regularly to the court on the status of the individual’s personal and financial status.