Wills and Estates Attorney: Protect Your Legacy with Expert Guidance
At Rudick Law Group, our wills and estates attorneys guide you through the nuances of estate planning, end-of-life care, and proper documentation to give you and your loved ones peace of mind.
Wills and Estates Attorney: Protect Your Legacy with Expert Guidance
At Rudick Law Group, our wills and estates attorneys guide you through the nuances of estate planning, end-of-life care, and proper documentation to give you and your loved ones peace of mind.
Estate Planning Made Simple
Estate planning is about more than deciding who gets which of your assets. It’s about securing your family’s future.
Without proper estate planning, your assets — money you’ve saved, a business you own, anything else — could be subject to unnecessary taxes or ownership disputes that go against what you intended. Additionally, the distribution of your assets could face legal disputes, delays, and other disruptions that are especially unwelcome amid periods of grief. At Rudick Law Group, we’ll work with you to ensure your estate plan is comprehensive and tailored to your wishes.
Why You Need a Wills and Estates Lawyer
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Avoid Legal Challenges and Tax Burdens
Your wills and estates attorney will draft documentation that ensures your assets are distributed according to your wishes rather than what a state court decides. By acquiring estate tax planning services, you’ll also minimize your tax liability, avoid potential legal disputes, and reduce probate delays and complications, removing any obstacles to your family inheriting your legacy.
Protect Your Loved Ones
When drafting a will, your estate planning attorney will include language determining guardianship for minors and providing for end-of-life expenses. Your family won’t have to worry about financing your burial and funeral, and your children under 18 will get the care they need and deserve. Your attorney will also ensure that your will distributes your financial assets to your spouse and dependents while clearly outlining how additional assets should be distributed.
Streamline the Probate Process
The probate process gives the executor of your will full legal authority to act on your behalf. However, the probate process is burdensome in that, in most states, it requires the courts to formally appoint your executor or administrator. Estate planning can significantly reduce this burden on your family by letting you decide in advance who should be responsible for distributing your estate.
Alternatively, you may establish a living trust separately from a will, or as part of a will. This document, created with the support of a trust administration lawyer, does not require any court involvement in most states. You manage its assets during your lifetime, and ownership is transferred to your beneficiaries upon your death or incapacitation. Although trusts avoid delays and simplify asset distribution, they are more complex and costly to create, necessitating the guidance of a knowledgeable attorney.
Wills and Estates Services at Rudick Law Group
Estate Planning
We help you decide how and to whom you wish for your assets to be distributed and managed after your death. Our estate planning services give your family financial stability, peace of mind, and a stronger future.
Drafting Wills
As part of our estate planning services, we draft your will to clearly delineate your wishes. We also ensure that your minor children have the exact guardianship you wish for while lessening your estate tax burden.
Trust Creation
Although wills and trusts both distribute your assets to your loved ones, only trusts forgo court involvement in most states. We work with tax specialists to craft clear, legally sound trusts that eliminate delays in sharing your legacy with your family.
Trust Management
We can act as your trustee to ensure reliable control of your assets. We’ll ensure that your assets are transferred to your family after your death, taking a major worry off everyone’s mind.
Power of Attorney
We draft general durable power of attorney documentation to legally designate another person to take certain actions on your behalf. This way, if you cannot authorize your own medical care or manage your finances due to mental or physical incapacitation, a loved one can do so for you.
Notably, it’s becoming increasingly common to give two people power of attorney to lessen the likelihood of familial disputes. Upon your request, we will write documentation that gives power of attorney to two people.
Healthcare Directives
General durable power of attorney is one type of healthcare directive; living wills are another. As your living will attorney, Rudick Law Group writes legal instructions that medical practitioners must follow if providing care when you are incapacitated.
Probate
We’ll work with your family after your death to guide them through the probate process. As your family’s probate lawyer, we’ll take the legal steps required for your will’s executor to gain full control of your assets and distribute them according to your wishes.
Estate Administration
We guide your executor or trustee through the distribution of assets to beneficiaries and the payment of debts and estate taxes. Our services avoid potential penalties on your estate while getting your belongings and money to your loved ones with no issue
Climate Change and Disaster Planning
Without in-depth preparation, climate change and natural disasters can devastate your property and your family’s financial well-being. We advise you on how to insure your assets so that you and your loved ones can continue to thrive after disaster strikes.
Green Burial Planning
Green burials are an emerging eco-friendly alternative, but like traditional burials, they cost thousands of dollars. We draft your will or trust to direct a portion of your assets toward covering these costs. Your family will have no trouble affording your green funeral, and you’ll leave this earth as naturally as you entered it.
The RLG Difference
How an Estate Planning Attorney Can Save You Money
Tax Reduction Strategies
Estate law experts are highly experienced in minimizing the taxes levied on an estate.
Asset Protection
Wills and estates services include the drafting of documentation that ensures your assets go to their exact intended beneficiaries.
Minimizing Probate Costs
Probate and estate administration services reduce time spent in court, which in turn lessens the cost of going through the probate process.
Protecting Business Interests
Your business may be among the assets for which you wish to transfer ownership after your death. Wills and estates services protect your business’s assets amid this transfer.
Common Estate Planning Questions
What Is the Difference Between an Estate Lawyer and an Estate Planner?
An estate lawyer drafts legal documents such as your will, trust, and power of attorney. An estate planner collaborates with you to decide which of your assets should go to which of your beneficiaries. They work closely with your estate lawyer.
How Much Does an Estate Lawyer Cost?
The cost of an estate lawyer’s services vary wildly depending on the complexity of your specific needs. For example, fees can vary based on the number of documents needed, the complexity of said documents (including tax implications that must be assessed and addressed), and whether your estate must go through probate.
What Is the 5 or 5 Rule in Estate Planning?
In estate planning, the 5 or 5 rule, also known as the 5 by 5 power, dictates how the beneficiary of a trust can make yearly withdrawals. The beneficiary can withdraw $5,000 or 5% of the trust’s fair market value — whichever figure is greater.
What Are the Seven Steps in the Estate Planning Process?
The seven steps in the estate planning process are:
- Define your goals and priorities.
- Take an inventory of your assets.
- Identify beneficiaries.
- Assign powers of attorney.
- Create a will and/or trust.
- Plan for estate taxes.
- Regularly review and update your documentation.
Rudick Law Group’s wills and estates services cover all these steps.
What is the difference between wills and trusts?
Wills outline asset distribution after death, while trusts manage assets during life and after death.
Protect Your Assets and Your Family’s Future
Schedule a consultation with Rudick Law Group to guide your family toward financial security after your death.
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