Estate Planning
What is Estate Planning? Why is it Important?
Estate Planning is the planning of your estate for after your life. Your estate includes all of your money (savings, investments, etc.), your life insurance, your house, other real estate, your business, all of your personal property, and even your pets. By planning what you want to happen to these things before your death, you can guarantee that your life’s work will garner the respect it deserves after your death by having your wishes honored. Your estate plan will also protect you as you get older, making sure you are safe and taken care of. In addition to this, estate planning helps protect your children, family members, and pets amid a hard time, helping them avoid the stress of planning your estate after you are gone. Our team can help you achieve all that you want to with your legacy and to protect it.
What are the Different Types of Estate Planning?
Single Will Set
We recommend that everyone has at least a last will and testament, general durable power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, and a directive to physicians. These are the document included in our will sets. Optional documents include HIPAA authorizations and personal property memos.
Joint Will Set
The most common estate planning for married couples includes a will for each spouse. We also include powers of attorneys for each spouse and directives to physicians. Some married couples will include a community property agreement to eliminate probate at the first death.
Unfunded Living Trust
By adding an unfunded living trust to a will set, we are able to immediately improve the alignment of assets controlled by beneficiary designation such as retirement accounts and have a plan that can be easily updated for life changes.
Revocable Living Trust Set
Revocable living trusts can be created for individuals or couples. When funded, they become a will substitute and will prevent the need for probate. Revocable living trusts often contain cub-trusts to address asset protection and tax concerns.
What is our process for Estate Planning?
The most essential step of our process for Estate Planning is talking to YOU. It is very important to us that your estate plan reflects your needs and wants, and what is most valuable to you and your family. Throughout every step of creating your plan, we want your values to shine through to the forefront so you can be the best represented that you can be.
- When you call in, we will schedule a consultation meeting to go over all of your questions and decide on what type of plan is right for you.
- Consultation Meeting: You go over your intake form with all of your information with your attorney and you both make a plan recommendation.
- This depends on if you decided on making a trust or a will. With a trust, you have a design meeting where all of the concerns you have are addressed.
- Both wills and trusts have a nominations form and from there we will have enough information to start drafting
- You will then receive your draft for review. Then you will come in and sign. At this time clients will take their copies home.
- Trust clients will have one last meeting for the delivery of the documents as well as have a discussion on funding.
Seattle Office &
Mailing Address:
1833 N 105th St, Suite 301
Seattle, WA 98133
