| How
to build YOUR ESTATE PLAN:
Step 1 PREPARATION
A prospective client contacts our office
and makes an appointment for their FREE
CONSULTATION. Our office will send out
a form designed to help you organize your
family and financial information. Bring
the form to your first meeting with Clancy
Parks.
Step 2 CONSULTATION
This is where Clancy learns about your
individual family; personally and financially.
This is where you learn about the law
and the opportunities you have to craft
an estate plan that meets your goals and
objectives.
Step 3 DESIGN
Based on the specifics learned in consultation,
your specific plan takes place. This is
where we discuss the specific legal tools
to implement in your specific situation.
Trusts, Wills, Powers of Attorney are
just a few of the tools we may discuss.
Step 2 AND 3 usually take one meeting,
sometimes two.
Step 4 IMPLEMENTATION
About 3 weeks after your estate plan is
designed, it is time to come back to the
office and sign your documents. Your estate
plan is now real and your family and property
are more protected.
Step 5 FUNDING
The most important ongoing part of any
estate plan is making sure that your assets
are properly titled. Put another way,
making sure the right name on your property
and assets is essential to your estate
plan’s success. At our office we
either directly handle this issue for
you and/or we give you the tools to do
it yourself. In either event, we are always
available and eager to answer your funding
questions in the future.
SPECIAL SITUATIONS:
No family or set of circumstances is alike.
There are certain situations, however,
that require special attention when considering
your estate planning options. Do any of
the following situations apply to you?
If so, contact our office today.
1. Do you have young children? Who
is going to raise them? Who is going to
handle the money?
2. Do you have elderly parents that need
care if you are not available? Are your
parents worried about losing their property
because they need long term care?
3. Do you have a beneficiary who has “special
needs?” what happens to their government
benefits if you pass away?
4. Non-traditional couples. An ever increasing
demographics are people choosing to live
together without formally entering into
marriage. Also, gay and lesbian couples
may need to take specific action to respect
their relationship.
5. Blended families. His children, her children,
and our children poses special circumstances
demanding certainty and protection.
PROBATE / TRUSTS
Reasons to Avoid Probate:
- TIME CONSUMING. Probate usually lasts
anywhere from 9 to 24 months after someone
dies. This puts families in limbo and
survivors may have needs that go unmet
for too long.
- EXPENSIVE. Probate fees and expenses
are often out of the realm of acceptability.
- PUBLICITY. Probate is a matter of
public record, so many families do not
like the invasion of privacy, nor the
increased risk of identity theft.
Ways to Avoid Probate:
- Titling assets in a Trust.
- Non-Probate Transfers. Beneficiary
Deeds, Beneficiary Bills of Sale, Titling
assets to "Pay On Death", or "Transfer
on Death" (P.O.D. / T.O.D)
- Beneficiary Designations. Naming individuals
or trusts as the recipient of life insurance,
annuity, and/or retirement benefits.
- NONE of these tools should be used
without proper counsel because each
family has its own set of personal and
financial circumstances that dictate
when and if any of these tools are appropriate
for your situation.
What is a TRUST?
A trust is a separate legal entity
that owns property and provides detailed
instructions for the management of those
assets. It is like an empty bucket that
you fill up with YOUR assets. The bucket
comes with an instruction manual telling
us who manages the bucket (the Trustee),
what happens while you are alive (you
can do what you want when you want), what
happens to the property when you are disabled,
and what happens when you are gone.
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