Antelope, CA Estate Planning

How many times have you heard about fights erupting in otherwise congenial families after the parents pass away? It is sad, but true. When a loved one dies without having made his or her decisions known, the descendants can act illogically, and conflicts fester. Emotions run high for those who are suffering a loss. With an estate plan, doubt and fighting is replaced with order and harmony. Do yourself and your family a favor, and be ready. Farrell, Fraulob & Brown specialize in estate planning for all of Antelope.

Avoiding Probate

Probate - the word itself can be frightening. It doesn't sound good and it isn't. Probate is what takes place when any estate greater than $100,000 is left behind, even if you made a last will and testament. A will simply names your beneficiaries, while paying all your debts and actually transferring the deeds and accounts that were formerly in your possession is all part of the probate process. In order to help your beneficiaries bypass court, your estate plan should include a living trust.

The Living Trust

The living trust is a legal entity that owns your assets for you. You are the trustee and oversee the trust. Therefore, you still use all of the assets in the trust. You live in your house, you drive your cars, you pay your bills from the trust bank account, just as you lived before. The property, however, actually belongs to the trust. If you are incapacitated, control can be temporarily relinquished to a named member of the trust. When you die, your estate passes immediately to your beneficiaries, if they are listed as members of the trust. One or more people that you list are responsible for distributing the property of the trust to your inheritors. Since the trust has title to everything, and not the deceased, the courts involvement is not needed, if the trust meets all legal requirements.

Power of Attorney for Health Care and Assets

Most of our clients in Antelope also can use a Power of Attorney for Health Care and a Power of Attorney for Asset Management. If you cannot act for yourself, due to injury or illness, a power of attorney appoints an agent ahead of time to act for you and deal with your financial affairs. How often friends and relatives spend valuable time and effort fighting over health matters, end of life decisions and funeral rites! Writing out advance health care directives lets your family and professionals know just what treatments you are willing to undergo in order to save your life. Without such directives, it is possible for people to remain tethered to live-saving machines for years, with no hope of recovery. In many cases, this was not in accord with their personal beliefs, but the individual never specified in advance what their medical choices would be or who would be responsible for making those judgments. Even worse, their assets can be tied up in court while they lie helpless in a hospital. The Power of Attorney for Health Care and Power of Attorney for Asset Management stop all of these problems.

Think Ahead

Farrell, Fraulob & Brown are prepared to help individuals in Antelope think through their estate plan. Prepare a rock solid set of documents for the benefit of yourself and your family. Call (916) 442-5835 today to set up a simple consultation or contact us via our website.