Estate Planning

Estate planning is arranging for the control and distribution of your decisions and property when you are unable to be in control for any reason.

Estate planning is more than just a Will. A Will alone requires probate. An estate plan prevents probate and fixes a whole lot of problems.

Estate Planning = Peace of Mind and Certainty.

Estate Planning reduces the uncertainty and costs of dealing with lifetime incidents and accidents.

Estate Planning reduces the uncertainty and high cost of dealing with your final estate.

Estate Planning is arranging for the care and management of your personal property and real estate during and and after your lifetime.  An estate plan should be tailored to each family’s unique needs, goals, and desires. 

If you should be unable to make decisions during your lifetime, an Estate Plan tells the world who can make decisions for you, manage your money, and more instead of a Judge.

A trust is a contract (legal document) between the Grantor (the person who creates the trust), the Trustee (the person who controls and manages the trust) and the beneficiaries (those entitled to benefit from the trust). You, as Grantor, determine how the trust will be operated by the Trustee and who benefits, how and when.

During your lifetime, you are the Grantor, Trustee, and Beneficiary! That means you maintain full control of the Trust unless you are incapacitated. In that case, you’ve already named the next Trustee (manager)!

We have several trusts available and one of them will meet your needs.

If you have minor children, the best way to protect them and their assets is with a trust.

With a Will, you decide who gets your assets and on what terms. Pick who gets what, when, how, and how much.

A Will is a legal document that lists who you want to get what, when, how, and how much.

If you don’t have a Will (or Trust), then the State decides who gets what, when, how, and how much.

Determine who will take care of underage children and who will administer your estate – known as the executor or personal representative.

A “Beneficiary Plan” uses a combination of methods and tools available to keep the majority, if not all, of your estate out of Probate without the expense and complexity of a Trust.

Many people often write just a Will and forget there are other better ways to handle their bank accounts. With a plan your bank accounts, investments, savings accounts, financial accounts, retirement plans, life insurance policy, and retirement accounts will be shielded from the rigors of probate.

If you become sick or disabled, either temporarily or permanently, who will make decisions for you?

A Power of Attorney, perhaps the most important legal document, lets you appoint someone (your Agent) you know and trust to manage your affairs if you can’t.

If you can’t pay bills, get records or make other decisions, your family will be prevented from helping you get treatment, pay doctors, pay bills, sell assets, or work with Medicare.

If your loved one becomes incapacitated and does not have a Power of Attorney, your family may have to file what is known as a Guardianship Proceeding to obtain guardianship of the incapacitated person. This process involves the Court, several lawyers, doctors and usually costs three thousand dollars or more. A Power of Attorney costs a fraction of that.

A properly drafted, comprehensive Power of Attorney lets your Agent to preserve your assets in the event that you need nursing home care for your loved ones.

It is important that you give your family the tools to help you if you cannot help yourself.

Make your wishes clear and binding for life support, organ donation, and who has access to your medial records.

Control Where Your Assets Go – and who is responsible for making sure that they go where you want and how you want.

Control Important Healthcare Decisions – your plan includes your wishes should you be incapacitated for any reason

Control Personal, Legal, and Financial Decisions – and who you want to handle your finances and legal matters if you should be incapacitated for any reason

For most people, estate tax is not a concern. Arkansas has none. 

The federal estate and inheritance taxes start, in 2022, at $12.06 million of assets. A couple, because of the rules, can have double that. That means that a couples total taxable estate doesn’t begin until $24.12 million. Your total taxable estate includes everything you own, including proceeds form life insurance.

You really want to avoid estate taxes because the estate tax rate is 40%.

You need to be careful, because this is tied very closely to the gift tax. For every $1.00 of gift you give during your lifetime, you lose $1.00 of estate tax exemption. Another reason to watch the gift tax is because of Medicaid.