Developing an Estate Plan
At Spearing Law, we thoroughly understand the need for comprehensive estate plans that will address your specific requirements. Ensure you and your family are well protected with a comprehensive estate plan.
Estate planning is anticipating and providing for managing and disposing of a person’s estate once they pass away or become incapacitated. It gives peace of mind that your assets will be distributed according to your desires. A well-constructed estate plan will help to ensure that your beneficiaries receive assets or control those assets in a way that manages and minimizes various taxes. Living wills and enduring powers of attorney are also vital estate planning tools.
For some folk, a trust may be an appropriate tool to use. With a revocable living trust, your assets are transferred to the trust, and you appoint a trustee to manage the assets for your benefit. If you become ill or incapacitated, your trustee manages your affairs. When you pass away, your assets get distributed to your beneficiaries, avoiding probate, which is the court process of distributing assets for those that don’t have a pre-determined method for the distribution of their assets.
Asset Protection
To die, intestate is to die without a will and testament. In this case, your assets are distributed according to a state-based process. The assets generally make their way into the hands of your heirs, but it can take some time.
Anyone with accumulated assets needs to consider some kind of asset protection. Asset protection is a legal technique or techniques to protect assets from creditors. The State of Florida has some quite generous exemptions, such as the Florida Homestead.
Power of Attorney
A power of attorney is a legally binding document that enables the appointment of someone to manage your property, medical or financial affairs. The power can be limited to a particular task, such as disposing of a property, or its application can be more general. It can be a temporary or a permanent authority and can take effect immediately or on the occurrence of a specific event, such as a mental or physical disability. In Florida, a POA can be revoked by following a set of rules and steps.
Living Wills
Living Wills are documents that determine the type of life care decisions should you become incapacitated. It is an essential document to consider if you have a medical condition. A living will can alleviate the stress on loved ones, knowing they follow a set of pre-established considerations according to your wishes.
Well-structured estate plans have many benefits for you and your loved ones. Contact us today to help ensure you have life contingency planning in place.