Wills

While many families rely on sophisticated estate planning tools such as trusts and gift transfers to shelter assets from state or federal estate taxation, just about everybody stands to benefit from three basic estate planning tools, not only to arrange for the orderly transfer of your assets to the next generation, but to plan for the possibility that you will be dependent on others to make important health care or financial decisions for you. These basic tools include:

• Last will and testament to designate a personal representative for your estate, transfer assets, specify your funeral or memorial wishes, or designate guardians for children in case you die while they are minors.  Find out more at What is a will?
• Durable power of attorney for financial matters from managing your checking account to the purchase and sale of assets C this can be especially important for avoiding conservatorship proceedings in the event of your later incompetence
• Advance Directive for Health Care to make sure that a trusted person makes medical treatment decisions for you in the event of an accident or health crisis that robs you of your own voice. And, also allows you to specify your wishes for continued medical treatment, such as life support, in case you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious

Our experienced attorneys not only advise you about the terms of these instruments and make sure that they are prepared and executed properly, we also help you get the most out of them. We can help you review an existing estate plan to make sure that the persons who are designated health care representatives or financial fiduciaries are still in a position to serve in that capacity, or to make sure that your current will is still effective. For example, little known fact among non-attorneys, under Oregon law, marriage or divorce automatically revokes your existing will.

Our firm is here to protect you and those you love. Contact us today, we can help you identify your estate planning goals and explain what estate planning documents might make the best sense for your situation and objectives.

Visit our Estate Planning FAQ for additional resources and articles.