Many people think of estate planning in terms of getting a Last Will and Testament in place, perhaps also a power of attorney or a living will. However, a carefully tailored estate plan is much more than simply a few select legal documents. An estate plan should provide for succession planning: passing on your assets to your chosen beneficiaries; utilizing trusts to ensure that those assets are not subject to the beneficiary’s creditors or spouses or distributed outright before the beneficiary is mature enough to handle assets; providing for the appointment of fiduciaries (trustees, executors, agents for financial matters) who will faithfully carry out your wishes. The plan should minimize estate and income taxes. Finally, while an estate plan provides for your family when you die, it should also provide for you while you live: by minimizing income taxes, providing for management of your assets and healthcare if you become sick or disabled, and, most importantly, providing for peace of mind.

An estate plan will often include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills and health care proxies. The plan should take into account or alter beneficiary designations and property ownership. The plan will ensure that beneficiaries with disabilities will be provided for without jeopardizing any governmental benefits they might be entitled to.

Certain plans may call for more advanced tax savings strategies utilizing a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT), a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) or other split interest trusts. Planning for families with business interests often requires working with or altering the entity structure of these businesses. Such planning can increase liability limitations and asset protection and also decrease the taxable value of these interests.