Estate planning services are designed to provide you with comprehensive assistance on legal and financial issues. Estate planning is not just focused on what happens after your death, but also on protecting your assets and addressing problems that can arise at the end of your life. Having a plan in place is essential to protecting yourself and the people you love, so it is important to be proactive when thinking ahead about your future.
Augulis Law Firm can help. Our Warren, New Jersey estate planning lawyers offer advice to client at all income levels, all ages, and all life stages. Whether you have just started working, have had a baby, are getting older, or are entering your golden years, we can provide the advice you need to make sure your estate plan is comprehensive and up-to-date. Give us a call at (908) 222-8803 to get personalized advice on creating or updating your estate plan and to get answers to important questions including:
- What is involved in estate planning?
- When should you create or update an estate plan?
- How can a Warren, NJ estate planning lawyer help?
What is Involved in Estate Planning?
Estate planning involves protecting yourself, your family and loved ones, and the assets which you have worked to acquire during your lifetime. You need to take many different steps during estate planning, depending upon your goals for the future. For example, some of the different parts of a comprehensive estate plan could include:
- Living trusts: Living trusts allow the transfer of assets outside probate and give a trustee power to manage assets in case of incapacity.
- Irrevocable trusts: Irrevocable trusts can help protect assets in case you must go into a nursing home, and can help you to reduce estate taxes.
- Special needs trusts, spendthrift trusts and other types of trusts: There are different types of trusts which allow you to provide for a loved one with special needs without causing a loss of access to government benefits. There are also trusts which allow you to protect assets from being lost if heirs are irresponsible with money.
- A last will and testament: A last will and testament can be used to provide comprehensive instructions on your funeral, asset distribution, and other important matters after your death.
- Advanced directives for healthcare: You can specify in advance what kinds of healthcare you want, and do not want, as well as who should make healthcare choices for you.
- A power of attorney: A power of attorney lets you choose who makes your decisions, manages your affairs, and manages your property if you become incapacitated.
These are just a few of the many different tools which can be used under New Jersey law to ensure that you know exactly what will happen at the end of your life and after your death. You cannot plan for illness, injury, or life’s uncertainties – but you can be prepared and make sure you are protected no matter what life throws at you.
When Should You Create or Update an Estate Plan?
Anyone and everyone should have an estate plan if they are over the age of 18, particularly once they have anyone depending upon them or have amassed any assets. Even if you do not have a lot of wealth or have family to care for, you should still make a plan to address the end of life issues that could impact your quality of life. You don’t want your life prolonged, medical care withheld that you would want, or your family forced to pull the plug on life sustaining machines- so you need to plan and make your wishes known in case of a health emergency.
If you have begun to build wealth or have loved ones who count on you, estate planning also becomes very important for other reasons besides controlling your medical autonomy. You need to create or update a plan whenever a life milestone occurs, like getting married, getting divorced, or having a baby. You also need to ensure your instructions are clear at all times on what should happen to your property so there is never any confusion that leads to family fighting.
By reviewing your estate plan regularly and getting the right legal help in the plan’s creation, you can ensure that you are always prepared and ready in case illness, injury, or death occurs.
How Can a Warren, NJ Estate Planning Lawyer Help?
Augulis Law Firm provides comprehensive estate planning services. Clients throughout Warren, New Jersey and surrounding areas have turned to us for assistance because of our strong reputation for providing affordable, understandable, and comprehensive advice. To learn more about the different ways in which our legal team can assist you throughout the estate planning process, give us a call at (908) 222-8803 or contact us online.
