Our passion is problem solving for you and yours.

Proper estate planning not only puts you in charge of your finances, it can also spare your loved ones the expense, delay and frustration of managing your affairs if you pass away or become disabled.

Providing for incapacity. A will does not take effect until you die and a power of attorney may be insufficient. Designate people you trust in proper legal documents, and appoint a health care proxy to make medical decisions if you cannot.

Avoiding probate. Assets left by will pass through probate, which can be expensive, time-consuming and public. With proper planning, assets can pass to your loved ones quickly, inexpensively and privately.

Providing for minor children. Your plan should address the upbringing of your children, a contingency if both parents pass, and the guardian you would nominate.

The high cost of long-term care has made planning a critically important issue for most middle class seniors and their families. Financial devastation looms large for a family facing ongoing care at an average rate of $10,000 or more per month.

Long-term care options. Private pay care can wipe out the savings of all but the wealthiest families in a matter of years. Long-term care insurance offers peace of mind, but many can’t afford it or can’t qualify, and many who have it still resort to Medicaid.

Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid is the single largest payer of nursing home bills in America. Look-back periods, income caps, transfer penalties and waiting periods make planning essential. It is never too late to plan, even if the individual is already in a nursing home.

Our firm regularly assists affluent families with sophisticated strategies such as Family Limited Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies, Personal Residence Trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts and a wide range of charitable gifting techniques to reduce Federal Estate Taxes, Gift Taxes and Generation Skipping Transfer Taxes.

Family Limited Partnerships. An FLP offers estate and gift tax savings and asset protection while letting you retain control of the transferred assets.

Qualified Personal Residence Trusts. A QPRT lets you give away your house or vacation home at a great discount, freeze its value for estate tax purposes, and continue to live in it.

Medicaid planning seeks to qualify otherwise eligible people for benefits by working within the rules, prepaying costs and making transfers of assets, such as between spouses, that create the shortest possible ineligibility periods.

As long as there have been no disqualifying transfers of assets in the five years prior to applying, one is potentially eligible for benefits. Our mission is to deliver as positive an outcome as the law allows through a proven Medicaid qualification process, and to protect assets through qualified Medicaid trusts.

Every probate estate is unique, but most involve these steps:

• Filing of a petition with the proper probate court
• Notice to heirs under the Will or to statutory heirs
• Petition to appoint an Executor or Administrator
• Inventory and appraisal of estate assets
• Payment of estate debt to rightful creditors
• Sale of estate assets and payment of estate taxes, if applicable
• Final distribution of assets to heirs

Non-probate assets include jointly held property with right of survivorship, retirement accounts with designated beneficiaries, life insurance, pay-on-death bank accounts, and property owned by a living trust. This firm does not accept Will contest cases.

Over 19 million new lawsuits are filed in the United States every year. Business owners, professionals and property owners in particular should be aware of the risks, including professional malpractice liability, personal liability of corporate officers and directors, lawsuits by former business partners, premises and auto injuries, and liability as guarantor for another’s debts.

Asset Protection is not about giving in to fear. It is about empowering yourself in the face of it. We represent professionals, small business owners and property owners, protecting assets against litigation, judgments, liens and fraud through special trusts, business entities and other legal arrangements.