The best plan is what an informed person decides.
Everyone has a different story. Until you sit down with an attorney, it's difficult to know what your options are. In most estate planning cases, the first meeting is complementary and we will give you a quote for the option you choose, before moving forward with your plan.
To prepare yourself for the first meeting, you can use the worksheet that best fits you below.
Estate Planning Newbies
If you have no estate planning documents, we can educate you on your options, and help you set up a plan to fit your goals.
Estate Planning Reviewers
If you already have a Will or Trust and want want to review it because life and law changes, we can help.
Whether you are a Newbie or a Reviewer, we will focus on understanding your current family situation, assets, and goals. At our first meeting, we ask questions, listen closely, and provide solutions to accomplish your goals.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email or call our office. We are ready to help you through the planning process.
So you made the decision to get your will or trust done, but how do you prepare for the first meeting with an estate planning attorney? It might be easier than you think. You should really just have three things.
What will happen if your pet outlives you? How is it decided who gets your pets? Many times our pets feel like family and you may want to make sure they’re taken care of like family if they outlive you. There are three primary ways to ensure your pets are taken care of after your lifetime.
If you did your estate planning in California, then move to Hawaii, is the plan still valid? Will your will or trust work the way you intended in you new state of residence? Each state has it’s own set of laws that govern estate planning.
Will the State take my property? Will my loved ones pay more taxes? These are common questions that come up when discussing what happens if you die without a will, but aren’t necessarily true. Each state has intestate succession statues that try to guess who you would want to get your stuff if you don’t have a will.
Maybe you’re about to go on a trip or have a sudden flash of insight that makes it urgent to make or update your will. In certain states, including Hawai`i, holographic (or handwritten) wills are accepted, but you should know a few things before breaking out the stationery.
Estate planning is not just about planning for after your lifetime. It’s also needed for incapacity planning while you’re still alive. Adding someone as a signatory on your bank account is a simple tool for incapacity planning, but it’s not right for every situation.
Losing a loved one is difficult enough, then there's the business of carrying out their estate plan. Creating an estate plan gives the ones you leave behind a clear direction of what you want to happen to your assets, but many times family members don't know where to start.
So you did the hard part and did your estate plan, but now where should you keep these important documents? Attorney John Roth explains where to keep your estate planning documents, who you should give them to, and where not to put them…
Do you have things that you would want to go to certain people after you die? Maybe you'd want your daughter to have your car or your best friend to have a certain piece of art? That's where the Memorandum Regarding Tangible Personal Property comes in.
We may not like to talk about it, but most of us will reach a point in our lives where we need more help from others to take care of ourselves. Estate Planning Attorney John Roth and Adult Care Expert Karyn Clay talk about incapacity or the physical or mental inability to manage one's affairs and the care options available.