Trusts and Your Estate Plan

How We Can Help

We help create your Wills, Trusts and and comprehensive Estate Planning solutions tailored to your specific needs and goals. Our dedicated team is here to support you in developing personalized Living Wills, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Directives, and robust Estate Plans.

You're Unique, So Your Plan Should Be Too.

We listen carefully to what you need.  We work closely with you to create a strategy that effectively protects your assets and ensures the future well-being of your family.  With our guidance, we can help you develop and maintain family privacy and fulfillment of your your wishes.

Protecting Your Family And Your Future

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What is a Trust?

A Trust holds your money or property in a special way. It helps you avoid probate and keeps your plan private. It's a strong tool to help you and your family.

A trust functions as a legal arrangement where assets, such as money or property, are placed in a "bucket" to hold your assets.  You create specific instructions in case of incapacity or death as to how your trust assets should be distributed.  It can avoid probate and is a private family matter.  Essentially, it's a strategic tool for protecting your children, wealth management and ensuring that your assets are handled according to your wishes, without interference from the State or Court.

 

 

Effective Trusts & Estate Planning Services

A trust may offer you a variety of advantages, such as:

  • Avoiding Probate
  • Protecting Adult Children from their Potential Mistakes
  • Minimizing or Avoiding Tax Consequences
  • Keeping Financial Information Private
  • Setting Money Aside for Your Children and Grand Children
  • Setting Aside Money for Potential Disability or Long-Term Care
  • Assisting with Supplemental Needs or Special Needs
  • Obtaining Medicaid for yourself or a loved one

Types Of Trusts

  • Revocable Living Trust
  • Living Trust
  • Joint Trust
  • Spendthrift Trust
  • Irrevocable Trust
  • Medicaid Trust
  • Land Trust
  • Testamentary Trust

Are Estate Plans Necessary For Everybody?

Links and Resources

What Is the Difference Between a Living Will and a Do-Not-Resuscitate Order?

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

It is a very good idea to create advance directives in order to plan for the possibility that you may one day be unable to make your own medical decisions. In doing so, there can be confusion about the difference between a living will and a “do-not-resuscitate” order (DNR). While both these documents are advance…

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Discovery of Aretha Franklin’s Handwritten Wills Throws Her Estate Into Turmoil

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

Legendary singer Aretha Franklin was thought to have died without a will, but the recent discovery of handwritten documents in her home is calling that into question. A representative of her estate has asked a Michigan probate court to determine if any of the documents could be considered a valid will. When Franklin died August…

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Warning: you must have a Power of Attorney!

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

Imagine if tomorrow you were in a car accident or overcome by an illness and unable to communicate… What would your family do? I have sat on the edge of too many hospital and/or rehab beds dealing with distraught family members. You must have someone (with alternates) to call your insurance company, write checks, pay…

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What am I forgetting?

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

So much is being said in the news about dementia that I thought we should discuss why being occasionally forgetful is not such a concern. To the contrary, our memory may not always be so important. A recent article explains how forgetting is actually useful. By forgetting information that is stale, we are enabling ourselves…

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Maximizing Social Security Survivor’s Benefits

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

Social Security survivor’s benefits provide a safety net to widows and widowers. But to get the most out of the benefit, you need to know the right time to claim. While you can claim survivor’s benefits as early as age 60, if you claim benefits before your full retirement age, your benefits will be permanently…

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Medicare Beneficiaries Need to Know the Difference Between a Wellness Visit and a Physical

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

Medicare covers preventative care services, including an annual wellness visit. But confusing a wellness visit with a physical could be very costly. As part of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare beneficiaries receive a free annual wellness visit. At this visit, your doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant will generally do the following: Ask you to…

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How to Deal With Student Loan Debt as You Age

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

The number of older Americans with student loan debt – either theirs or someone else’s — is growing. Sadly, learning how to deal with this debt is now a fact of life for many seniors heading into retirement. According to a study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the number of older borrowers increased by…

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So, You’ve Been Appointed Trustee of a Trust? Here Are 9 Do’s and 1 Don’t

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

Whether it’s an honor or a burden (or both), you have been appointed trustee of a trust. What responsibilities have been thrust upon you? How can you successfully carry them out? Here are nine do’s and one don’t to get you started: Do read the trust document. It sets out the rules under which you…

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If You Haven’t Been Regularly Reviewing Your Estate Plan, Start When You Hit 60

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

How frequently you should review your estate plan depends on how old you are and whether there has been a significant change in your circumstances. If you are over age 60 and you haven’t updated your estate plan in many decades, it’s almost certain that you need to update your documents. After that, you should…

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How to Make Your Funeral Wishes Known

By Andrea Jakob | December 30, 2019
Estate Planning, Wills And Trusts

How can you make sure your funeral and burial wishes will be carried out after you die? It is important to let your family know your desires and to put them in writing. Just don’t do it in your will. To help your loved ones follow your wishes after you are gone, you can write…

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“Leave A Legacy, Not A Mess”

Emerald Publications – September, 2007

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