01/19/2018
What is this thing we call “estate planning”? You hear it being talked about but many people, if not most, don’t know what estate planning is, or the purposes of the estate planning lawyer. Most people know what criminal lawyers and divorce lawyers do, but not what estate planning lawyers do.
How about this? Let’s get rid of the legal lingo and make this real simple. What I do is work with my clients in dealing with their property/properties, which may consist of their homes, money, business, farms, retirement, fi****ms, and practically any and all things they have ownership in. Their property is their “stuff.” My job is to work with clients in dealing with their stuff, for now and in the future.
“So Bryon, what are the things they call ‘wills,’ ‘trusts,’ ‘power-of-attorney,’ what are those things?” My answer is “those things are merely tools in dealing with what you want to do with your property, now and in the future.” When I meet with new clients, we first discuss what their property consists of and what concerns/issues/matters/interests they have regarding it. Later we talk about the tools.
Common concerns that clients have consist of dealing with their property after their death and avoid probate, after death distributions to special needs children, protection of children’s inheritance, giving power to someone over property upon disability/incapacity, distributions within blended families, etc.
So let’s schedule an appointment and have a discussion on what to do with your property. If you own a business, retirement accounts, rental property, or if you only own your home and bank accounts, let’s talk about what we can do for you and your property for now and in the future. Don’t worry about what tools to use, we will decide on that together.