Estate Planning & Elder Law

It has been a while since I have posted to my blog. I thought I would wait until Congress acted on the Estate Tax issues, thinking they would take care of their previous oversight at the first available opportunity. While there are talks in committee regarding the Estate Tax and avoiding the Sunset provision of EGTRAA we will be facing in 2011 should they (Congress) not address the issues involved, there is really nothing substantive to report at this time.

I feel no more comfortable today than I did two months ago in predicting what the status of the Federal and State Estate tax will be in 2011, or for the remainder of 2010 for that matter. The uncertainty of the whole situation has left many thinking that they should wait until this is all cleared-up before initiating an estate plan. If your choice is to wait until the Federal Government finalizes all these issues, you will not have any planning in place in your lifetime.

There is a solution. It is quite simple really. It is a 3 part process that will ensure your estate plan will work for both you and your family.

1. Develop the Best Plan You Can Now.
Take the time to look at where you are now and where you want to be 10, 20, or 30 years from now and seek out an attorney who will work with you to create a plan that will work for you and your family now and into the future.

2. Continue to Update and Maintain Your Plan.
If you can count on anything beyond death and taxes, it is that things will continue to change. The laws will continue to change, your financial and personal situations will continue to change and I will continue to learn more about both over time. Staying on top of your estate plan over time can save substantial amounts of money that might otherwise be lost to taxes and/or lost opportunities.

3. Transfer Your Wealth in and Efficient and Effective Manner.
By being consistent and purposeful about your planning, when something does happen, you either become disabled, or die, your assets and documents are where they are supposed to be and transferring those assets is much simpler and more effective.

At the Law Office of William J. Dennis, we utilize a 3 step process and work with you, your family and other professional advisers to ensure that you and your family have an estate plan that will work as intended when it is needed.

1. You Tell Us About Your Family, We Will Tell You About the Law and Together We Will Create an Estate Plan that Works.
You are the expert when it comes to you and your family. We start with a conversation about you and your family and the goals you have for your estate plan. I will give you an overview of my practice and review basic estate planning concepts with you. Based on your situation and goals, we will give you several possible options to consider. Once you have chosen an option, we will work together to design the plan you want. We will then make sure that assets and beneficiary designations are properly in place.

2. Formal Updating and Maintenance Program.
As discussed above, things change. It is necessary that we work to keep your estate plan current so that it is as effective, 5, 10, 20 years from now as it is today. We meet with clients each year to go over plans and advise clients of changes in the law that might affect their Estate Plans and opportunities that arise due to some of those changes.

3. Efficient and Effective Transfer of Wealth.
If the first two steps have been administered properly, the third step is made much simpler. Working together over time, we can ensure that assets are structured correctly, titled correctly and/or designated such that your Estate Planning Goals and Objectives are met and that your assets are transferred to your loved ones in an efficient and effective manner.

If you would like to learn more about this subject, please feel free to call me to schedule an initial consultation at 630-613-7700. Initial consultations are always free, or you can visit my website at www.wjdennislaw.com.