Trusts & Estate Planning
How We Can Help
We help create your Trust 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 Trusts and 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
What is an "Estate Plan"?
You don't need a mansion in Beverly Hills to need an Estate Plan. Your greatest asset is your independence and autonomy. An "Estate Plan" allows us to prepare a variety of documents to make sure the state or county doesn't step in to control your wishes during your lifetime and following your life.
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 is a will?
I like to say a will is a "Dear Judge Letter." A will is not dispositive and must be administered in a process called Probate. Your Last Will and Testament describes how you wish your affairs to be handled and how your assets will be distributed following your death during the probate process.
What is a Trust?
I hear clients ask “Why do I Need a Trust” every day. A Trust holds your money or property in a special way. It helps you avoid probate and keeps your plans private. It's a strong tool to help you and your family.
Take a look at my recent Article regarding What to Expect at an "Estate Plan Consultation"
What can our team do for you?
We develop your personalized plan using a variety of documents such as Wills, Trusts, Health Care Directives and Powers of Attorney to meet your individual needs and goals. We help develop the plan to best protects your assets and your family’s future; while maintaining family privacy and keeping control of your wishes.
We discuss what your values are, what your needs are and how your needs and the needs of your family can be protected and represented in your Estate Plan.
Our unique law firm experience is a 5-step proven process you will be 100% thrilled with.
Unlike other firms, we don't just sell documents, we deliver peace of mind. We communicate with you, listen to you, and we treat you with the same care and respect we'd want for our own family.
We have streamlined the estate plan process, so you can spend less time at your lawyer’s office
and more time living your life!
The JakobLegal Difference: 5-step process:
1. We Get to Know Eachother
You will be assigned a Client Coordinator who will immediately begin helping you to prepare for your appointment. You will chat with us about your goals, concerns, and your family. We will schedule your signing date so you'll know your goal is in sight.
2. Meet with your Attorney
At your attorney meeting, once our client agreement is signed, we will begin our promised attorney/customer service experience. We will curate the best plan to achieve your goals and ease your concerns at this comprehensive appointment.
3. Personalized Plan Developed
Our team will roll up their sleeves to begin your personalized and detailed plan design. It will be developed and tailored to your exact needs, and the appropriate documents will be drafted.
4. Signing Meeting
At the signing, we'll go over every detail and ensure you fully comprehend your plan. We simplify complex legal jargon, making it accessible to you and your family, so you don't need legal expertise to understand how it benefits you.
5. Life Happens:
We are all human and life has its unexpected twists and turns. Our promise to you is
we will help you along the way and be here for your family when you need it the most.
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
Links and Resources
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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More 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…
Read More“Leave A Legacy, Not A Mess”
Emerald Publications – September, 2007
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