Estate Planning Services

Our mortality may be an uncomfortable prospect to face, but it’s also a natural and inevitable part of life. Carefully planning for the distribution of your assets after you pass is the best way to ensure that your family’s financial future is protected and that they will be relieved of stressful administrative burdens during an emotional period.

It’s never too early or too late to begin your estate planning journey – with the experienced estate planning attorneys at Astor Simovitch Law guiding you, you’ll have peace of mind that your assets will be safeguarded and your loved ones well looked after when you are no longer here to do so yourself.

Why Do I Need An Estate Planning Attorney?

Estate planning is a complex process that requires a sound understanding of the various legal instruments available for ensuring that your assets will be distributed according to your wishes. The decisions you make, as you draw up your estate plans, can have a profound impact on the welfare of your loved ones, and it is of the utmost importance that you have an experienced and highly qualified estate planning lawyer to help you throughout the process. They will ensure that your estate planning documents are meticulously drafted, legally valid, and leave no room for interpretation or misunderstanding.

An estate planning attorney will also encourage you to consider aspects of estate planning that you might never have thought of, such as putting a healthcare surrogacy in place to ensure your medical wishes are respected. They will also be able to advise you on estate planning mechanisms appropriate for your particular circumstances – for example, if you have minor or disabled children, or are a business owner. Partnering with an estate planning attorney who you feel comfortable with early in life will also ensure you have a trusted advisor on hand to help you update your estate plans through all of life’s major changes, such as marriage, the birth of a child, divorce, or the death of a spouse.

What Does Estate Planning Involve?

Everybody’s estate planning journey is unique because estate planning is dependent on the circumstances of your family, your asset profile, and any special preferences you may have. Your lawyer will carefully explain the legal instruments available to you given your estate planning goals and help you to structure your affairs in a way that protects your best interests and those of your loved ones. Wills, living and testamentary trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, healthcare surrogates, and guardianship arrangements are all common legal instruments that estate planning attorneys prepare for their clients.

Wills

A Last Will and Testament is the most basic estate planning tool. It allows you to name your beneficiaries and set out what you wish for each of them to inherit, nominate a Personal Representative who will be responsible for administering your estate, and record any additional special provisions, such as nominating a guardian to care for your minor children. Without a will, your assets will be distributed according to Florida’s intestate succession laws, which may lead to undesirable outcomes. For example, if you die without a will and are married but separated from your spouse, your spouse will still inherit from your estate under Florida law (even though you may have preferred for someone else, such as a new partner, parent, or sibling, to inherit).

It is crucial that your will unambiguously records your wishes and that its provisions are legally valid and executable. A vague and poorly-worded will can take years to be probated if legal challenges are brought concerning its interpretation. Hiring an experienced estate planning attorney will give you peace of mind that these risks will be avoided, that your wishes will be respected, and that the probate of your estate will proceed quickly and smoothly.

Living And Testamentary Trusts

Trusts are another important estate planning instrument. There are two main types of trusts that estate planning attorneys use: living trusts and testamentary trusts. Living trusts are favored by many people because, if set up correctly, they allow probate to be avoided. To use a living trust to avoid probate, you will need to place all your assets in trust while you are still alive (you can continue to use and manage them in your capacity as a trustee). When you pass, your co-trustee or successor trustee will then manage or distribute the assets as per the trust deed.

A testamentary trust, on the other hand, is a type of trust that only comes into existence after your death, through special provisions in your will. The trust is capitalized on your passing from the assets remaining in your estate or a life policy and then managed by a trustee who will administer and distribute the trust assets for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries. Testamentary trusts are often used by those who have disabled or incapacitated children and who want to be sure that they will be properly cared for.

Trust law is a highly complex area of legal practice and there are several special requirements that must be met for a trust deed to be valid. Creating a trust will also have tax implications, so it is vital that you consult with a respected estate planning attorney who has experience in trust law if you wish to use this particular legal tool.

Powers Of Attorney

Powers of attorney (POAs) are very useful legal instruments that allow you to nominate and authorize another person to make decisions and carry out legal acts on your behalf. Many people use POAs to manage their day-to-day and business affairs, but in the estate planning context, they are usually used to nominate a trusted individual who will manage your affairs on your behalf if you no longer have the capacity to do so yourself (e.g. you suffer cognitive decline or a brain injury).

There are many different types of POAs – some are much broader and give the person nominated the authority to manage all your financial, legal, and medical affairs, whereas others are more limited, for example, they relate only to medical decisions. Your estate planning attorney will be able to discuss the various kinds of POAs with you and help you to assess whether a POA should form part of your estate planning.

Living Wills And Healthcare Surrogates

Living wills and healthcare surrogates are becoming increasingly popular estate planning tools. A living will allows you to dictate, in advance, the medical treatment that you wish to receive should you become incapacitated through terminal illness, injury, or cognitive decline. They also allow you to state the circumstances under which you would want life-sustaining medical treatment to be withdrawn (e.g. on the cessation of brain activity). Many estate planning attorneys recommend that their clients create a living will, as having one in place can save family members from having to make emotionally distressing decisions concerning their loved one’s medical treatment.

Healthcare surrogates serve a similar purpose to living wills. A healthcare surrogate designation allows you to nominate a person who will make medical decisions on your behalf should you no longer be capable of making them yourself. These are very useful documents because not every possible medical scenario can be preempted in a living will. Nominating a healthcare surrogate will give you the peace of mind that a trusted person will make decisions regarding your medical treatment should a situation not covered by your living will arise. When speaking to your estate planning attorney, you should also explore whether other types of advance directives are suitable for your estate plans, such as directives regarding organ donation and Do Not Resuscitate orders.

Estate Planning For Business Owners

If one of your major assets is a business, then consulting with an estate planning attorney with commercial law experience should be your highest priority. You and your business partners will want to ensure that your business operations are not impacted by your passing, and that ownership of the business can be transferred quickly and efficiently. Comprehensively planning for the management and ownership of your business will ensure that it continues to thrive after your passing. If your business is a family business, you will want to ensure that all family members are consulted and on board with any succession plans while you are alive, to avoid protracted and divisive legal battles after your passing.

Experienced Estate Planning Attorneys In Boca Raton, FL

Beginning your estate planning may be a daunting prospect, but with the experienced, approachable, compassionate attorneys at Astor Simovitch Law to guide you, it needn’t be. Our leading estate planning attorney has decades of experience in estate planning, guardianship law, and probate matters, and will bring her wealth of legal knowledge to bear on your particular family situation and financial circumstances.

There’s nothing better than attaining total peace of mind that your wishes will be respected and your family cared for after your passing – call us today at 561-419-6095 to arrange a consultation.