Many people are unaware of the benefits of early planning for their family wealth management or of setting up wills and trusts to minimize tax consequences. Nowakowski Legal PLLC regularly advises its clients on current estate planning laws in order to properly prepare, maintain, and protect the assets they have built up over their lifetime. We can assist in effectively and legally reducing exposure to such items as gift, estate, and inheritance taxes. We provide advice on estate planning techniques that can be used not only upon death, but during your lifetime to enable wealth to pass to your intended beneficiaries in the most efficient manner possible.
The following are just some of the ways that Nowakowski Legal PLLC can assist you in planning your estate:
Wills
Preparing a will is necessary for insuring your loved ones receive the assets you want to leave them upon your death. Without one, your family may be confused as to your wishes and will likely be required to adhere to the distribution laws of your state. By planning your estates distribution now, you can eliminate many of the challenges your family might otherwise have to face further down the road.
Our office is capable of helping you to review your assets, determine your beneficiaries, and prepare a will that will clearly direct the distribution of your assets upon death. Once drafted, we will then walk you through the legal processes necessary to insure that the will is properly and legally executed in conformity with the laws of your state. At Nowakowski Legal PLLC, our office understand exactly how important this legal document will be to your family after you pass; we can help you ensure that the language of your document clearly specifies each of your final wishes.
Trusts
Trusts are estate-planning tools that can replace or supplement wills as well as help to manage your property during your lifetime. A trust helps to manage the distribution of a person's property by transferring assets and obligations to a designated trustee for management on your or your designated beneficiaries behalf(s). There are many reasons to create a trust, making this property distribution technique a popular choice for many people when creating an estate plan.
Our office is able to assist in preparing a multitude of trusts to fit your specific situation. Depending on the type of trust that you require, they can assist in avoiding probate, lowering or potentially eliminating estate taxes, and expediting distribution to your loved ones upon your death. Additionally, many clients find the benefit of a trust to come in their ability to stipulate or spread out distributions to beneficiaries; essentially, instead of providing a single lump sum distribution to a loved one, you can arrange for them to receive continued payments over a long period of time (and to make the payments conditional on whatever you stipulate).
At Nowakowski Legal PLLC we are there to assist you in preparing and setting in to motion whatever form of trust you may need.
Power of Attorney
As you begin to prepare your estate for the future, you will need to consider whom you would want to possess the power to make decisions on your behalf in the later years of your life. The person or organization you choose to grant this authority may be named in a legal document known as a power of attorney. A power of attorney can come in many forms and can address such things as who may manage your health care, funds, general powers, and/or specific powers. In addition, power of attorney documents can be constructed to only become active (or inactive) if certain triggering events occur; the most common triggering effect being the incapacitate of the grantor.
Additionally, it should be noted that powers of attorney need not be prepared in anticipation of your future needs in the event of incapacity. If you are in need of allowing another entity the ability to manage your affairs, a power of attorney may be an option.
Whatever your wishes or needs may be, Nowakowski Legal PLLC is available to draft any form of power of attorney that you may need.
Probate Administration
The probate administrative process is essentially the legal method in which an administrator, often called the “executor,” deals with the courts, taxing authorities, property and stock brokers, banks and other creditors, appraisers and, in many cases, lawyers who challenge the terms of the will on behalf of one or more of the testator’s disaffected relatives. The administrator’s goal is to dispose of the estate in a manner that best fulfills the testator’s intent: paying the testator’s taxes and lawful debts, making certain that bequests are paid according to law, disposing of real or personal property, establishing trust funds for specific purposes, and preserving the estate’s value to the greatest possible degree.
The executor is tasked with probating the will in accordance with the testators wishes and design, notifying all applicable entities of the estate distribution, determining the assets of the estate, and distributing the estate in accordance with the wishes of the testator and all applicable law. Nowakowski Legal PLLC is available to assist you in the event that you need assistance through the difficult tasks inherent in the probate administration process.
Guardianship
When someone loses the capacity to manage his or her own affairs or estate, he or she may need a guardian to be appointed. If necessary, Nowakowski Legal PLLC can assist you in having a guardian appointed to oversee a person and/or their estate. Additionally, if you believe a guardianship that is being appointed is inappropriate, we can assist you in contesting a guardianship in an attempt to have the appointment revoked.
Whether you need a guardianship or are questioning why one was appointed, Nowakowski Legal PLLC is there to help you. We can explain how the guardianship process works and what the court considers before it appoints someone.
Did we not mention an estate planning item above that you need help with? No problem! Chances are that we can still help. Just contact our office and set up a free consultation and we can fully review your issue and give you an idea as to how Nowakowski Legal PLLC can assist you.
One of the founding principles of Nowakowski Legal PLLC is that we want our relationship to grow alongside your legal needs increase. As your life reaches higher levels of success, and as your legal needs continue to increase, we hope to always be the law office you turn to when you are in need.
