Most individuals work diligently accumulating assets for their family’s welfare. But not planning how to preserve those assets for your heirs can be costly.

Perhaps you have thought that estate planning is only for the wealthy. The fact is, whether your assets are sizeable or modest, you can choose how to leave your property and how to minimize taxes on it. These goals, along with providing for the care and guardianship of your minor children, are also the primary objectives of estate planning. Careful estate planning can help ensure that your property will go to those you choose in an orderly fashion and that your children can be cared for by those whom you trust.

One of the most prevalent methods of dealing with the continued management, preservation, and appropriate disposition of property is the Trust. Trusts can be created under an individual’s Will (a Testamentary Trust) or by lifetime agreement between an individual and a Trustee, or a Declaration of Trust whereby the individual holds property as Trustee. Many of our clients use a Revocable Trust, which can be changed at all times during the individual’s life and which can continue after death, as the primary vehicle for their estate planning.