wills and estates
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At the Law Offices of Bryan T. Pennington, we provide services in the following areas:
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Estate planning involves the creation of a plan to manage your assets while you’re alive and to distribute your assets after your death.
Estate planning is generally an area many people ignore because it involves subjects that they would rather avoid: incapacity, death, and taxes. Many people do not give proper thought to the possibility of becoming incapacitated, or the certainty of their own death, yet incapacity will happen to most of us, and death will happen to all of us. Estate planning forces us to face the financial and emotional consequences of incapacity and death and take action to minimize the effects on our families. At the Law Offices Of Bryan T. Pennington we treat this are of the law very seriously and strive to help make things easier for their clients and their families. Estate planning documents serve the purpose of recording your decisions and are a method to decide how to distribute your assets and property. It is important for everyone, even people with smaller estates, to have an estate plan. A properly executed estate plan will help to reduce tax liabilities, court costs and attorneys fees. It can also lighten the load of administrative and financial issues that typically follow the loss of a family member. While there are a wide variety of estate planning tools that can be appropriate to a given situation, estate plans have three fundamental elements: A will, a power of attorney and an advanced directive/living will, each is described in detail below: Durable Power of Attorney: A durable power of attorney allows an individual you choose to act on your behalf. This individual is given the power to make decisions regarding your financial affairs and can conduct business on your behalf. A durable power of attorney may be general or limited. A general power of attorney allows your agent (the person who you is making decisions on your behalf) to do every act which may be legally done by you. A limited durable power of attorney covers specific decisions such as handling a specific bank account, selling property or making investments on your behalf. Springing Power of Attorney: a springing power of attorney is the same as a durable power of attorney except it only takes effect when two (2) physicians sign a document agreeing that you are in a state which makes it impossible for you to manage your own affairs. A Will: A will is a document an individual creates which documents how a their property should be distributed after his or her death. It can record your wishes for things so simple as collectibles or heirlooms, or give guidance as to who will receive your property, when they will receive it, and in some cases can dictate conditions for individuals to receive your property. Advanced Directive / Living Will: An advanced directive / living will is a document wherein an individual makes the decision ahead of time as to what will happen to them if they are in a healthcare situation, such as a persistent vegetative state, and they lack the capacity to make the decision for their self. Healthcare Power of Attorney: A healthcare power of attorney is a document wherein an individual makes the decision ahead of time as to who will make their healthcare decision on their behalf should that individual lack the capacity to make the decisions for their self. Generally, the advanced directive / living will and the healthcare power of attorney are completed together in the same document. |