Your Well-being Is Our Priority
PROVIDING FOR FAMILY
Your Estate identifies and protects your children and other beneficiaries after your death, specifies a guardian of your choosing, not the court's choosing, protects your family's privacy after you pass, preserves your wealth for future generations, and may include planning for non‑traditional families and special circumstances.
STRATEGIC WEALTH TRANSFER
Three primary systems of wealth transfer tax planning apply in the United States:
1) Gift tax
2) Estate tax, and
3) Generation-skipping transfer tax.
Advance Planning can minimize the impact these taxes may have on a transfer of your wealth. We consider each scenario, the associated issues and concepts and the applicable law.
PLANNING FOR INCAPACITY
If you become incapacitated, the court will appoint someone to assume responsibility for your property and welfare known as a conservator. Keep your family out of Court by creating an Estate Plan before you become incapacitated.
The most common ways to avoid the need for conservatorship proceedings include naming a conservator, executing an advance health care directive, and executing a revocable living trust.
PHILANTHROPIC BEQUESTS
Contributions to favorite nonprofit organizations are often addressed in the estate planning process. We provide insightful guidance into the variety of techniques that will allow you to make tax-advantaged gifts to the charities of your choice.
We prepare all Estate Planning Documents and we will create an Estate Plan that is specifically designed for your needs
Wills
Wills are still the most common instrument used to indicate one's wishes as to who will inherit your property. Wills have to be probated (through the court system) in the county in which the person resided at the time of death.
Trusts
Trusts are great tools to save money on Estate and Gift Taxes or to allow heirs to access funds immediately (avoiding probate) as well as providing guidelines on how and when your heirs can spend the assets.
Power of Attorneys
There are basically two types of Power of Attorneys, for financial issues and the other for health related issues. Both types can be combined into one form and can be made “durable” meaning that the powers granted continue once the Principal becomes incapacitated
Guardian selection for minors
In the tragic even that the only parent(s) or guardian(s) a child has dies, selecting a guardian for that child within your Will or Trust can avoid potentially traumatic experiences for that child. If there are no immediate family members able to care for the child, the child may have to be placed in foster care waiting on a court process.
Advanced Directive Care
This will indicate what if any artificial life prolonging measures should be provided such as breathing or feeding tubes.
It is vital that everyone execute at least the most basic Estate Planning documents. Without them, there are tax consequences that could create a hardship for your loved ones and could even result in the loss of assets. If you have minor children, without proper planning, they could end up being raised by someone other than you would choose and it could take months before they would have access to your assets jeopardizing their well being.
Estate planning can be a neglected part of financial planning. It's easy to delay answering uncomfortable questions such as “What happens to my assets and my loved ones when I die?” So it's no surprise that roughly half of Americans don't have a will, and even fewer have an estate plan. Do you have children or elderly parents? What about savings or a home? An Estate plan protects your assets no matter how little and ensures that your loved ones benefit when the unspeakable happens. Protect your Assets now.
From Our Clients
DE ONDARZA SIMMONS, PLLC provides a high quality, creative, and result–oriented solutions to individuals and businesses, and serves as a primary resource and partner in all aspects of clients' business growth and development.