Our New Jersey estate planning lawyers are highly-knowledgeable in the state’s estate laws and proficient in rendering estimable estate planning services. Our approach is personalized, and we seek to offer you a custom estate plan that works best for you. Call us today for a free consultation.
Estate planning lawyers NJ—helping you plan for all possible eventualities
Death
It is sad to think about, but death must one day come. The best step to take is to start planning now so that your wishes will be known when you die. Let us help you plan towards the effective distribution of your estate and how costs can be minimized.
Family squabbles over property
It is also vital that we plan to avoid all possible eventualities such as confusion and family squabbles when you die. If your wishes are not clear enough, your loved ones may fight over your property. Adding a lawsuit to the pain of your loss may be too traumatic for your family. This we can avoid through proper estate planning.
Properly addressing all your assets
We ensure that the right terms are used in your wills, trusts, and powers of attorney; we also ensure that the right assets are addressed. If you own assets in multiple states, we use the right strategy to avoid an intensive, expensive, and problematic probate when you pass away.
Incapacity
Another possible eventuality is incapacity. As you get older, there is a fear of possible mental incapacity. In may be Alzheimer’s or dementia, and then you become incapable of making decisions concerning your estate and health. Through proper estate planning, our estate planning attorneys will help you prepare such an unpleasant occurrence.
Important documents we include in your estate plan
Wills and trusts
To address how you want your estate disbursed when you pass away, we will help you draft a will and trusts according to your goals.
Will: A last will and testament is a document expressing your last wishes. In this document, you lay down instructions on how you want your estate disbursed when you die. Our goal is to ensure your will:
- Complies with state laws for validity
- Contains the right terms
- Does exactly what you want it to do
- Addresses the right assets to avoid confusion and squabbles when you pass away.
Trust: when you use a will, your beneficiaries will wait a long time until probate concludes before they can inherit your estate. To avoid the wait, we can fund your assets into a living trust instead. Assets held in a trust will pass to your beneficiary directly, and immediately you pass away without being probated in court.
Power of attorney
A New Jersey power of attorney (POA) addresses the possibility of incapacity. In this document, you appoint someone—known as your attorney-in-fact—to make decisions and act on your behalf. They will only act according to the instructions you laid down in your document, and their authority is limited to the kind of POA you executed. It could be that you authorize them to manage your financial, personal, or medical affairs, or all of the above.
We will discuss the different types for you and help you create the one that works best for you, but not without your consent.
Living will
Legally known as the New Jersey instruction directive, this document allows you lay out your terms for end-of-life treatment in a case where the quality of life can no longer be extended. You can instruct that you should not be kept on life support, and your wishes will be honored when the time comes.
Tax planning
In New Jersey, your beneficiaries must pay an amount known as inheritance tax to the state of New Jersey. This amount can reach up to 16% of their inheritance. Also, your estate may be subject to state estate tax if it values over $2,000,000 at the time of your death. All these taxes put together would be better off in the hands of your loved one. Fortunately, there are strategies by which our estate planning lawyers can help you avoid these taxes, such as gifting and trusts. We would be glad to help you get the most out of your estate.
Get started by speaking with an estate planning lawyer near you, NJ
Kindly call us today for a free consultation with our New Jersey estate planning lawyers.