Estate Planning

What Is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the process of deciding what should happen to your property, who should make decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself, and how the people you care about should be protected when circumstances change. A good estate plan does more than prepare for death. It also provides instructions for incapacity and helps make difficult situations easier for the people who may someday have to carry out your wishes.

At Epling Law Office, we help individuals and families create estate plans designed around their circumstances, assets, and goals. That may include wills, trusts, financial powers of attorney, health-care documents, beneficiary planning, and other strategies appropriate to the client.

I particularly like that language for you because it quietly echoes the central idea behind Things Change When People Die without turning the practice-area page into an advertisement for the book.

Why Estate Planning Matters

Estate planning gives you an opportunity to make important decisions while you are able to make them for yourself. Without appropriate planning, state law, court procedures, beneficiary rules, and property-ownership arrangements may determine outcomes that you would have preferred to decide personally.

A thoughtful estate plan can reduce uncertainty, simplify administration, and give the people you trust clearer guidance if you become incapacitated or die. No plan can eliminate every possibility of disagreement or complication, but good planning can make difficult circumstances easier to manage.

A Practical Definition of Estate Planning 

For many clients, estate planning comes down to a simple goal: maintain appropriate control during life, provide for the people and causes they care about, and make the eventual transfer of property as orderly and efficient as reasonably possible.

The documents are important, but the decisions behind them matter more.

Who Should Consider Estate Planning? 

Estate planning can be valuable for adults at many stages of life, including:

• Parents who want to nominate guardians for minor children. 
• Individuals who want to choose who can make financial or health-care decisions during incapacity. 
• Married and unmarried couples who want property to pass according to their wishes. 
• People with retirement accounts, life insurance, real estate, investments, or other significant assets. 
• Families with beneficiaries who may need additional protection or guidance. 
• Older adults who want to simplify matters for the people who may eventually assist them. 

You do not need to be wealthy to benefit from thoughtful planning.

 Without appropriate planning: 

• State law may determine who receives probate property. 
• A court may need to become involved in selecting a guardian in some circumstances. 
• The people making decisions for you may have less guidance about your wishes. 
• Assets may pass in ways that do not coordinate with the rest of your plan. 
• Administration may become more complicated than necessary.

What May Be Included in an Estate Plan? 

Depending on your circumstances, an estate plan may include:

• Last Will and Testament 
• Financial Power of Attorney 
• Health Care Power of Attorney 
• Living Will 
• HIPAA Authorization 
• Appointment relating to disposition of bodily remains 
• Revocable or other trusts 
• Beneficiary-designation planning 
• Transfer-on-death and survivorship arrangements 

The goal is not to accumulate documents. It is to create a coordinated plan in which the documents, beneficiary designations, and ownership arrangements work together.

Why Choose Epling Law Office for Estate Planning? 

Estate planning and probate are not occasional services at Epling Law Office. They are a central part of our practice. Our attorneys work with clients on wills, trusts, powers of attorney, beneficiary planning, probate, and estate administration every day.

Then keep the bullets, but I would reconsider “lifetime support” unless you are comfortable with that being read literally. The existing FAQ says you consider clients “clients for life” and generally do not charge for follow-up questions, which is a meaningful promise.  If that remains firm policy, it is fine; if not, use “ongoing support after signing.”

Have Questions About Estate Planning? 

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for information about fees, timing, the estate-planning process, probate, and working with Epling Law Office.