Brandon Estate Planning Attorney
By creating an estate plan, you protect yourself and your family during your lifetime and after you are gone. A comprehensive estate plan will help people make healthcare decisions for you when you can’t make them yourself, as well as dictate what happens with your property when you die. If you don’t make these decisions in advance, other people will make them for you, such as the state, the courts, or family members who might not know what you have wanted.
At Koether Law, P.A., our Brandon estate planning attorney takes the time to sit down with you and get to know you, your estate, and your wishes for your property and healthcare. We then create a set of wills, trusts and advance directives that meet your wishes and give you the peace of mind knowing that you and your family are protected now and into the future, come what may. Call our office for advice and assistance in creating a personalized estate plan that fits your needs.
Wills
A will tells the probate court or the person you name as the executor of your estate how you want your property distributed after you are gone. You can make gifts to family, friends, caretakers and other important people in your life, as well as institutions such as favorite charities, places of worship, or a library, zoo, or public park. Through gifts like these, the will lets the people and groups in your life know what they meant to you.
In addition to making these distributions, you can use a will to name the personal representative of your estate, nominate a guardian for any minor children, and make sure all of your property is accounted for and distributed according to your wishes.
To be valid in Florida, the will must be created by a person of sound mind who is at least 18 years old or an emancipated minor. The will must be in writing (typed, not handwritten except in certain cases), and it must be signed at the bottom by the person making the will or another person directed by the will-maker (known as the testator). The will must also be signed by two individuals who witnessed the testator’s signature.
Koether Law can draft a will that meets your needs and is valid and enforceable under Florida law.
Trusts
Trusts are another vehicle people sometimes use to distribute some or all of their estate. Trusts have the advantage of bypassing probate so that beneficiaries receive their gift faster and with less hassle. Trusts can also be kept private whereas wills become a matter of public record, so people who prefer privacy in regards to the size or contents of their estate or where it is going may opt to use a trust. Trusts can also be used to accomplish different specific purposes, like making sure a beneficiary does not receive an inheritance until they are mature enough to spend it wisely, protecting assets from creditors, or providing for a person with special needs who also relies on government support.
Like wills, trusts must meet a number of legal requirements to make sure they are drafted correctly. Koether Law can create a revocable living trust in accordance with Florida legal requirements that allows you to control when, where and how your estate gets distributed.
Advance Directives
In addition to drafting wills and trusts, our comprehensive Brandon estate planning practice includes creating a set of advance directives that help you plan your healthcare if there comes a point where you cannot manage it for yourself. For instance, if you were to get injured in an accident, fall seriously ill, or acquire an age-related memory disorder, you might not be able to make decisions about your medical care or communicate effectively with a health care provider. Advance directives tell family members and medical professionals what services you do and don’t want and give trusted individuals the ability to act on your behalf. At Koether Law, we talk over these important issues with you and create legal documents such as health care surrogates, powers of attorney, and living wills so you know that emergency medical services or end-of-life decisions will be made the way you want.
Get Security and Peace of Mind With Estate Planning in Brandon
Koether Law is here for you for all the important events in your life. If you don’t have an estate plan yet, we can create one that meets your needs and desires. Our office is also here to review and amend your existing estate plan as needed to accommodate life changes such as divorce, births, deaths and other life events that render your will or trust out-of-date or obsolete. For trusted estate planning advice and assistance in Brandon, Florida, call Koether Law, P.A. at 813-347-8193.
