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Planning Your Estate

Even though no one likes to think about death or disability, creating an estate plan is a crucial step you should take to safeguard your loved ones. In addition to putting you in control of your finances, effective estate planning can spare your loved ones the price, inconvenience, and stress of handling your affairs after your death or disability.

Avoid Probate

Everything you own will pass through probate if you leave your estate to your loved ones through a will. The procedure is often drawn out and open to the whole public. Until the estate has been settled and dispersed, the probate court is in charge of your assets — often freezing accounts for weeks or months. If you are married with kids, you should ensure your surviving family has access to needed money immediately so they can cover living costs while your estate is being resolved. With careful planning, your possessions can pass to your loved ones quickly, cheaply, and privately without going through probate.

Provide For Your Family

Your estate plan needs to handle matters relating to your children’s upbringing. If your children are small, you might want to think about putting in place a plan to let your surviving spouse spend more time with them without worrying about job commitments. If you believe your spouse lacks the knowledge or skills to manage financial and legal concerns, you might also wish to make provisions for individual counseling and resources for them.

You should also talk to your lawyer about the likelihood that you and your spouse could pass away simultaneously. The people you want to manage your assets and the guardian you want to name for your children’s upbringing should both be covered by your contingency plan.

Death Taxes

When you pass away, the IRS will want to check your estate to ensure you aren’t responsible for one last tax — federal estate tax. The size of your estate and the effectiveness of your estate plan will determine whether any taxes are owed. You should be aware that several states have their own unique estate and inheritance taxes. Many efficient tactics can be used to lower or even entirely abolish death taxes, but most of them need early planning.

Mr. O’Brien can help ensure your loved ones are taken care of in the unfortunate event of your death. Call the office at 866-934-8148 to schedule your estate planning consultation.

Wills and Trusts

At O’Brien Law Firm, LLC, we provide people with practical, individualized assistance in estate planning cases ranging from simple to complex.

We counsel professionals and business owners who need to establish complex, tax-saving arrangements and assist Mississippi families in creating straightforward wills and trusts to care for their minor children.

Mr. O’Brien can help you implement

  • Revocable Living Trusts
  • Wills
  • Charitable Trusts
  • Irrevocable Living Trusts
  • Living Wills
  • Financial Powers of Attorney
  • Health Care Powers of Attorney

 

Mr. O’Brien Will Help You Preserve Your Legacy

You have put a lot of effort into building your future, but now you must decide how to best leave your legacy to your loved ones. To make plans for a seamless transfer of assets to your loved ones, you must speak with an experienced and qualified Mississippi estate planning attorney. Mr. O’Brien will strive to safeguard your family, transfer your assets, and minimize your tax obligations.

Because of your accomplishments, crucial choices about your family’s future must be made. Since there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, hiring the best lawyer is essential to achieving your objectives.

Create a Living Trust in Mississippi

Similar to a will, a living trust is a legal document in which you — the trust’s grantor or founder — specify how you wish your inheritance to be divided after your passing. A living trust is a legal body that manages your assets while you are still alive.

Revocable living trusts are more popular than irrevocable ones because they allow for greater estate control, the ability to remove assets at any moment, and the option to revoke the trust altogether. If you are married, you should probably create a joint trust, but if you got married later in life and have distinct assets, it would be better to create two separate trusts.

Mr. O’Brien can help you choose the items you want to include in your living trust. Many people seek to shield their property and business interests from probate. Trusts can also hold assets like bank accounts and life insurance policies, although they are not required to do so. The accounts become transferable upon your passing if you have designated beneficiaries on them.

You’ll also designate a trustee to oversee the trust’s assets. You may select yourself (and your spouse as a co-trustee for joint trusts). If so, you must also choose a replacement trustee to take over the trust’s management in the event of your incapacity or demise.