Last Will & Testament
A will tells the probate court who you wanted to inherit, who you wanted to raise your children, and who you trusted to administer it. Without one, that court answers each question on its own.
The will remains the bedrock of nearly every plan we draft, because it is the only instrument that names guardians for minor children and the only instrument that captures any asset which somehow falls outside the trust at the moment of death.
We do not draft form wills. Each will is bespoke to the family it serves — naming primary and contingent executors, guardians, and beneficiaries, and addressing the specific tangible items, real estate, and digital assets you wish to bequeath with intention.
For families with a living trust, the will functions as a pour-over instrument, sweeping any unfunded asset into the trust at probate, where it is administered under terms you have already chosen.
Deliverables Included
- Executed will with witnesses & notarization
- Self-proving affidavit attached
- Two original counterparts, sealed
- Digital scan stored in our vault
- Letter of guidance to your executor
Revocable Living Trust
A living trust is a private, court-free way to hold your assets during life and transfer them after death — fully revocable, fully amendable, and fully under your control while you are alive.
Probate is a public record, a slow procedure, and an expense paid out of the estate. A funded living trust skips it entirely. Your assets remain titled to the trust, the named successor trustee steps in immediately, and your beneficiaries receive distributions on a schedule of your choosing — not a court calendar.
We draft both single and joint trusts, with provisions for spendthrift protection, special-needs sub-trusts, and generation-skipping vehicles where the family situation calls for them. We then walk you through funding the trust — the step that nine out of ten DIY clients miss, and the one that determines whether the trust actually works.
Privacy preserved
The trust is never filed with a court. Beneficiaries, asset values, and provisions stay inside the family.
Probate avoided
Trust-titled assets transfer to successor trustees in days, not the eight-to-eighteen months a probated estate typically takes.
Incapacity handled
If you become unable to manage your affairs, your successor trustee steps in seamlessly under your written instructions.
Tax efficient
Married couples can preserve both federal estate-tax exemptions through credit-shelter & marital trust provisions.
Probate Administration
When a loved one passes without the right plan in place, our probate team steps in, takes the procedural weight off the family, and walks the estate through court calmly — at a flat, agreed fee.
Probate is unavoidable in most jurisdictions when assets are titled in the deceased's individual name without a beneficiary designation or trust. We file the petition, qualify the executor, marshal and inventory the assets, settle creditor claims, prepare the accounting, and obtain the order of distribution.
Throughout, our preference is plain communication. You will receive a single bound packet at the closing of the estate, summarizing every transaction, every creditor paid, and every distribution made — kept on your shelf as the historical record of your loved one's affairs.
Probate Engagement Includes
- Petition for letters testamentary
- Notice to creditors & beneficiaries
- Estate inventory & appraisals
- Creditor-claim review & settlement
- Final fiduciary accounting
- Order of distribution & estate closing
Power of Attorney
A durable power of attorney lets a trusted person sign for you — for accounts, real estate, and tax matters — if you cannot. Drafted carefully, with the limits you choose; never broader than is genuinely needed.
The power of attorney is the instrument families regret not having more than any other. When a parent has a stroke, when a spouse is overseas, when an aging client cannot make it to the bank — the alternative to a working POA is an emergency court-appointed guardianship, which is expensive, public, and slow.
We draft springing powers, immediate powers, and limited powers, each with carefully tailored authority and revocation provisions. The original is delivered with notarization that title companies and financial institutions accept on first presentation.
Advance Directive
A healthcare proxy and living-will declaration documenting your wishes about life-sustaining treatment, the people you trust to make medical decisions, and the conversations you would rather have on paper than at a hospital bedside.
The advance directive is a small document with disproportionate impact. It removes the most agonizing decisions from the people you love at the worst moment of their lives — by answering them, in writing, while you are calm and clear.
We pair the directive with a HIPAA authorization, naming who may speak with your physicians and access your medical records. Together they form a complete healthcare instruction set, kept in our vault, scanned to your chart, and printed wallet-sized for travel.
Business Succession
For closely-held companies, family farms, and professional practices, succession planning is its own discipline. We coordinate buy-sell agreements, voting trusts, deferred-transfer instruments, and key-person insurance into a single coherent transition plan.
The disposition of a family business is often the largest and most sensitive piece of an estate. Without a plan, business value evaporates in the months following an owner's death — through tax, dispute, and the absence of clear authority.
We work alongside your CPA, your wealth advisor, and where appropriate your business broker, to assemble a succession plan that anticipates the questions: Who will run the company? Who will own the company? When does ownership transfer? At what price? And what happens if the named successor dies first?
