Protect Your Family’s Future With An Estate Plan
Estate planning isn’t limited to writing a last will and testament to state who gets the furniture and who gets the house. Planning your estate is a way of addressing potential lifetime issues, such as disability, and structuring the disposition of assets after death to address both tax and nontax issues and contingencies.
Dariotis Law is a Tallahassee, Florida, law office that drafts estate planning documents such as wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney and living will documents that are designed to meet each client’s needs and goals. Many clients are concerned about various “what ifs” during life and after death, but when the firm helps implement a plan, they find they have a sense of peace of mind.
Attorney Terry Dariotis is board-certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in wills, trusts and estates law.
An Experienced Attorney Can Personalize Your Estate Plan
When you come to Dariotis Law for estate planning help, skilled estate planning attorney Terry Dariotis will work with you to learn about your circumstances and your long-term goals in order to develop a plan to help you reach them.
He helps people with documents and administration, including:
- Wills
- Revocable and irrevocable trusts
- Powers of attorney
- Advance health directives (“living wills”)
- Probate and estate administration
- Trust administration
Not everyone wants or needs a complex estate plan. Many people need no more than a simple will, a durable power of attorney and an advance health directive. Some clients are interested in creating a revocable trust.
Deciding On The Right Strategy For You
With so many options, the question then arises: which tools for estate planning are right for me? For some, the answer is more straightforward, while for others, things can get a little more complex. In either case, that’s where Dariotis Law can help.
As a Florida Bar board-certified attorney with a long history of helping Floridians plan their estates, Terry Dariotis can help you determine whether a trust or a will works best for your personal situation.
Understanding Creating A Last Will And Testament
When most people think of estate planning, they think of a last will and testament. A will lets you dictate how you want your assets distributed, and although you will direct the actual distribution, a judge is appointed to supervise the process in probate after your death. Wills may seem to be the more straightforward method of transferring assets after death, but there are a few factors to consider, including the requirement of probate court and its accompanying costs, as well as the public nature of a will.
Revocable And Irrevocable Trusts
Trusts are another way to select who handles your affairs after your death, and some varieties give you additional control. There are two primary types of trusts: revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts.
Also called a living trust, a revocable trust not only allows you to avoid probate but also lets you make changes to it while you’re still living. You, the grantor, act as the trustee. Once you die, the trust becomes irrevocable, and your beneficiaries can receive your property without probate or court supervision.
Irrevocable trusts cannot be amended or revoked by you even while you’re living, except in very limited circumstances. You appoint a trustee to oversee it, and that person controls the administration and distribution according to the provisions of the trust. Irrevocable trusts are a good option for people who are wealthy because they provide some tax benefits.
An Estate Planning Attorney Can Help You Strategize
In some cases, the answer is both a will and a trust. A trust can be used to exert control over how and when trust assets are distributed. This can be used together with a will, turning over certain assets, like tangible personal property, outright to beneficiaries and transferring other assets to the trust. An experienced lawyer like Terry Dariotis can help you decide how you should approach your own estate planning, helping you form a strategy based on your personal and familial situation.
Getting Your Ducks In A Row: Estate Planning Checklist
Once you have considered the benefits of a will and various trusts, think about these issues to ensure your estate plan addresses all of your needs:
1. Documents
Do I have all the right documents – current will, durable power of attorney and living will – in place to protect me and my heirs?
2. Assets
Who do I want to receive my assets when I die? Who should receive those assets if a beneficiary does not survive me?
3. Underage children
What should I have in place if I have a child under age 18? Have I named a guardian and an alternate guardian for the child and the child’s property until age 18? Should the child’s share be held in a trust until he or she reaches an older age but be available for health, education, support, maintenance and other important purposes?
4. Disabled beneficiaries
Is any beneficiary of my assets “disabled” (e.g., receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid)? Should I set up a “special needs trust” rather than have their share distributed outright to avoid loss of the child’s government benefits?
5. Trusts
Are there any reasons why I should set up a trust for any beneficiary (e.g., grandchildren under age 25)?
6. Personal representative
Who should be the personal representative (i.e., the executor) and alternate personal representative of my estate?
7. Living trust
Should I have a “revocable living trust” to hold title to my nonretirement investment assets and any out-of-state real estate?
8. Beneficiaries on other accounts
Have I updated the primary and alternate beneficiaries listed on my retirement accounts and life insurance policies?
9. Personal assets
What assets do I own solely in my name and not jointly with any other person, and do these assets have a “pay-on-death” beneficiary?
10. Gifts
Do I want to make any gifts to family members or to charities during my life or effective at my death? What type of gifts should I avoid making?
It’s Never Too Early To Plan Ahead – Call Today
Talk to an experienced estate planning and probate lawyer today. Call Dariotis Law at 850-692-2727 or contact the firm online. Your first consultation is free as long as you complete the firm’s confidential estate planning questionnaire.