Estate Planning
Who needs estate planning?
The short answer is you do! It doesn't matter whether your estate is large or small. Many think that estate planning is just for the wealthy. Unfortunately for them, it is far from the truth. Many people are unaware of what estate planning can do for them as it covers disability, medical, financial, gift, and business succession planning to name a few. Those who do plan don't realize that without proper maintenance the plan will not be able to accomplish their goals and objects.
Whether your estate is small or large, you should designate someone to manage your assets and make health care and personal care decisions for you if you ever become unable to do so for yourself.
If your estate is small, your estate plan can simply focus on who will receive your assets after your death, who should manage your estate, pay your last debts and handle the distribution of your assets.
If your estate is large, we can also discuss various ways of preserving your assets for your beneficiaries and of reducing or postponing the amount of estate tax.
Failure to plan ahead will result in a judge simply appointing someone to handle your assets and personal care. And your assets will be distributed to your heirs by the state.
Contrary to popular myth, everything does not automatically go to the state if you die without a will. Your relatives, no matter how remote, and, in some cases, the relatives of your spouse will have priority in inheritance ahead of the state.
Still, they may not be your choice of heirs; an estate plan gives you much greater control over who will inherit your assets after your death.
At the Purdy Law Group we are committed to helping you not only create an estate plan but maintain it as well. We are commited to keeping you in control of your assets, allowing you to provide for yourself and loved ones in health as well as in the event you become incapacitated, and allow you to pass on your wealth on to who you want, when you want to.
At the Purdy Law Group we strive to keep your overall costs down by striving to reduce the cost of professional fees and taxes. Through an easy, three step program we can give you and estate plan that not only works but is effective, organized, and up to date.
Wills and Trusts
The Purdy Law Group we want you to avoid probate. Probate eats up your estates resources leaving less for you to put it where you want it. To do this we focus on living trust based estate plans. Because the assets are in the name of the trust and not in the name of the deceased, they don’t have to go through probate. However, the trust must be properly maintained, “funded”, and established to do this.
Trusts, however, do not take care of themselves. The trust assets must be properly transferred and managed and administration of the trust include identifying the assets and then managing those assets, paying the bills, any taxes, properly maintaining/distributing/managing the assets as instructed in the trust, along with any administration expenses.
This all sounds like a lot of work, but at the Purdy Law Group we offer training workshops to our clients and their trustees to educate them on their responsibilities and duties. Upon disability or death, we assist the trustee in administering the estate and ensuring that their duties are properly performed.
Asset Protection and Wealth Preservation
We all hear about those stupid lawsuits were somebody robbing a house gets injured and then sues the owners and wins! As each year goes by, the theories of liability keep expanding and business owners as well as individuals face an increasing risk from lawsuits and creditor liability.
Asset protection may help to protect our estate from potential creditors allowing you to preserve your estate for your loved ones. At the Purdy Law Group, we help guide you through the process of creating an asset protection plan that protects what you’ve worked so hard to create.
Business Planning and Succession
Running a business is hard work and selecting the most appropriate entity for business plays a large role and makes the difference in planning for tax avoidence and deferal, protection from creditors, wealth accumulation, and retirement. A solid succession plan helps the owner to maximize value received while minimizing the effects of taxation when exiting.
At the Purdy Law Group we can provide you with comprehensive solutions to meet your business needs whether your just starting your first business, restructuring your existing business, buying and selling business, or just managing the day-to-day concerns of your business.