Planning for Death

Planning for Death

ESTATE PLANNING is a two-part process.

One:  Planning to protect your family if you should pass unexpectedly.

Do you have young children?  What will happen to them if you were to pass unexpectedly?  Who will care for them, how will they be supported financially.  These are the questions that plague us all.  MMPE LAW can help you find answers.

Two:  Planning to distribute your assets and pay your debts on your death.

Will your family be tied up in probate court asking for a family allowance to pay bills?  Will great-grandpa’s civil war musket cause a family rift?  Will your family be able to pay the mortgage on the house?  Will the family farm have to be sold to pay estate taxes?  These are the questions that we hear when we have an estate planning consultation.    Whether your estate is small or large, we have the tools you need to plan the transition.

TRUST PLANNING:

Trusts are very useful tools.  They are available to help a family avoid estate tax.  They are available to assist with a complex distribution process.  They are there to protect special needs family members.  Trusts can even help to provide succession planning in your family business.  The following are some of the varieties of trusts available:

Living Trust
Special Needs Trust
Insurance Trust
Real Estate Trust
Gun Trust
Simple Revocable Trust
Estate Tax Planning Trust
Missouri Qualified Spousal Trust
Legacy Trust

The Estate plan everyone needs:  Everyone needs the following items.

Probate/Non-Probate analysis:  a thorough review of your assets to determine whether those assets will require probate and if so, what can be done to avoid going to court.

Last Will and Testiment:  a document that describes how you desire your assets to be distributed.  Otherwise, the State gets to make that decision.

Declaration of Guardianship/Conservatorship for minor children:  Generally found in your Last Will and Testament, this declaration helps to ensure that YOU get to decide who will raise your children if you pass unexpectedly.  As parents, we at MMPE LAW know that this matters.  Let us give you peace of mind.

Power of Attorney over Healthcare and Finances:  This may be the most important document to have.  It is inevitable that you are in a critical emergency situation when you need someone else to step in and make a decision for you regarding your health and finances.  Without the Power of Attorney, your loved ones will be required to go to Court and obtain permission from the Court to help you.  This can take an unacceptably long time in an emergency situation and take an unreasonably large sum of money to get it done.  The Power of Attorney solves that problem.  Get a Power of Attorney, get it today.

Advanced Medical Directive:  This document allows you to decide, in advance what should be done in the event you are on life support and will not recover.  Without this document, your family will have to make the decision for you.  While you may trust them to comply with your wishes, sometimes that is just more than they can handle.  Help them through that pain by making the decision for them in your advanced directive.