Estate planning mean thinking about what will happen to your money and other property after your death. How will it be distributed and how will it be taxed. Estate planning is the intersection of death and taxes.
How to plan your estate
An important consideration is how will title to property transfer after your death. If you leave real estate or automobiles in your name, it will take a probate court order to transfer the property. You can avoid that by using a trust. If you have a large enough estate or have deferred gains (usually applies to real estate) you need to plan to minimize the tax on your estate.
There are many good “do it yourself” solutions and many low cost planning centers offered through banks and broker dealers. Unless your situation is complex and does not fit standard scenarios, it may not be necessary to hire a lawyer.
Estate Planning at Tollefsen Law
Although we can help you with routine estate planning, we are usually not the low cost solution. Most of our work in this field is fixing complex problems often through litigation.