SERVICE
Estate Planning
Each clients’ situation is unique. The estate planning services we provide are tailored to our client’s specific considerations, whether they include protecting assets for family or loved ones, nominating guardians for minor children, and/or reducing estate taxation upon death. Below is some general information to help you prepare for meeting with an attorney.
What is estate planning?
Estate planning is the process of deciding how you want your assets, debts, health care decisions, and other personal affairs to be handled in the event of your disability or death, and then creating legal documents to enable your wishes to be carried out.
The Role of an estate planning Attorney
During our first meeting with an estate planning client, we guide the conversation through a variety of topics related to estate planning. We take time to explore our client’s wishes and ask questions designed to help them make key decisions. Then we draft documents to carry out their wishes, providing them with time to review and ask questions about each document. Finally, we help clients sign their documents in the legally required way and identify any follow-up tasks that may be needed.
We generally recommend that our clients have at least five basic documents in place:
- Will (which may contain one or more Testamentary Trusts)
- Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Matters
- Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Matters
- Health Care Directive (also called a “Living Will”)
- Instructions for Final Disposition
For parents of young children, we also recommend a Durable Power of Attorney for Medical Decisions and Nomination of Guardian for Minor Children.
How Does Estate Planning Provide Protection During My Lifetime?
Powers of Attorney and a Health Care Directive are essential documents to protect you and allow your chosen loved ones to help in the event you are unable to manage your own financial affairs, make your own heath care decisions, and/or make medical decisions for your minor children.
A Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Matters appoints an agent to handle your financial affairs when you are unable to do so.
A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Matters appoints an agent to make medical and health care decisions for you if you become incapable of doing so.
A Health Care Directive gives instructions to health care providers and your health care agent about the care level you do – or do not – want in certain medical situations. This directive is sometimes also known as a “Living Will.”
A Durable Power of Attorney for Medical Decisions and Nomination of Guardian for Minor Children appoints an agent to make decisions about your children’s medical treatment. This document also nominates trusted individuals to serve as a guardian(s) for your children if you are not available, whether due to incapacity, illness, or travel.
More information about Powers of Attorney can be found here.
How Does Estate Planning Help My Loved Ones After MY death?
Preparing both a Will and Instructions for Final Disposition allows you to choose who will help after your death and provides specific instructions so that your loved ones can carry out your wishes.
A Will, also called a Last Will and Testament, appoints a personal representative (executor) to handle your estate when you die and directs where your property goes after your death. A Will can also:
- Nominate a guardian for your minor children
- Reduce your exposure to estate taxation, when possible
- Control the manner in which your children, grandchildren, or other beneficiaries receive sizeable assets
- Provide for a family member with special needs
- Benefit a favorite charitable organization
- Arrange care for a beloved pet
More information about the importance of Wills can be found here.
In addition to a Will, our estate planning process includes the creation of an Instructions for Final Disposition document, which allows you to designate an agent to dispose of your remains after death, to direct your manner of disposition (for example, burial, cremation, or natural organic reduction), and specify your wishes for a funeral, celebration of life, or other memorial service.
What OTHER ESTATE planning documents can i create?
At Salmon Bay Law Group, our estate planning team can help guide you in choosing documents appropriate for your unique situation, customized to your needs. Other common estate planning documents that some clients decide to have us to prepare include:
- Revocable Living Trusts
- Community Property Agreements
- Property Status Agreements
- Quit Claim Deeds
- Transfer on Death Deeds
Why Choose Salmon Bay Law Group?
Our Seattle estate planning attorneys help you draft legally enforceable documents, including Wills that ensure that your assets are distributed in the manner you intend. Our attorneys have experience in planning for individuals and families with a wide range of circumstances, including:
- couples or individuals with young children,
- blended families,
- domestic partnerships,
- young adults looking to create a simple estate plan,
- clients who want to provide for a loved one with a disability or other special needs,
- families with unique assets, such as rental properties, small businesses, and intellectual property rights, and
- individuals and couples with exposure to estate taxation in Washington.
We regularly work with seniors, persons of color, and LGBTQ+ clients. We emphasize a client-centered focus, and we work to ensure our clients feel heard and understood at each stage of our estate planning process.