Estate Planning Attorney in Pearland, Texas
No one can successfully predict how long we will live. Although it is emotionally challenging to prepare for one’s death, everyone must consider having a well-rounded estate plan in place ahead of time. Making your wishes known to your family in a clear and legally documented way can provide peace of mind. Estate planning can ease your worries by knowing that your intentions and wishes will be carried out when you become incapacitated or when you die. A reliable Pearland estate planning attorney can evaluate your needs and discuss future goals for your estate plan.
At Scott M. Brown & Associates, we are committed to providing exceptional legal services in the practice area of estate planning. We can assist you in dealing with legal issues related to asset protection, probate, charitable giving, and other concerns regarding estate planning. No matter the size or scope of your estate, we are ready to help you protect your assets, your family, and your legacy.
What is Estate Planning?
An estate consists of everything that you own. It includes your residential property, bank accounts, investments, real estate properties, vehicles, or life insurance. All of your valued assets can be protected by doing estate planning. It also covers health care concerns and your children’s welfare.
Estate planning ensures that your wishes involving the distribution of your assets, guardianship of minor children, and even healthcare decision-making will be carried out after you pass away. It minimizes estate taxes and ensures the proper allocation of your hard-earned properties to your chosen beneficiaries and heirs. Different estate planning tools offer a variety of features and benefits depending on your goals and circumstances. A credible Pearland TX estate planning attorney can help you determine the best type of estate planning that will work for you and your family.
Wills
A last will and testament is an important component of an estate plan. It is one of the estate planning documents that declares your wishes to allocate all your assets and personal property after death. You, as the testator or author of will, should clearly state your plans on how and what to distribute to your chosen beneficiaries and heirs.
When you write a will, you can name beneficiaries to your estate, designate guardians for minor children, resolve debts, protect assets, and name a trusted individual (executor) to fulfill your final wishes. Your executor is responsible for submitting your will to probate court for authentication and carrying out your wishes. A knowledgeable estate planning lawyer in Pearland TX can help you determine the things that your will should cover.
Creating a will is important, not just for the aged and wealthy people, but for everyone. If you die without a will, it’s called dying “intestate”. This means that your assets won’t necessarily end up where you want them to. Your estate will be managed and distributed by the court according to Texas intestacy laws. It can cause financial hardship and long court battles for your family and loved ones.
Trusts
A trust is a fiduciary arrangement that allows a third party or a trustee, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary. With the help of a skilled Pearland TX estate planning lawyer, you can create a trust to minimize estate taxes, protect assets, and spare your children from having to go through the lengthy probate court process. A trust can be made depending on its function and can be classified into two categories: testamentary and living trust.
A testamentary trust is a trust contained in a last will and testament. It is created to manage the assets of the deceased on behalf of the beneficiaries. Generally, testamentary trusts are created for young children or grandchildren with the assets being distributed after they reach a certain age.
On the other hand, living trusts allow you to hold assets for beneficiaries while dictating how and when they receive those assets when you die. The property that you transfer into a living trust before your death doesn’t go through probate. Your appointed successor trustee will simply transfer the ownership to the beneficiaries you named in the trust.
Living trusts can be categorized as revocable or irrevocable. A revocable trust is the most common type of living trust. It can be changed or revoked by the grantor during their lifetime. However, a revocable trust typically becomes irrevocable upon the death of the grantor. In contrast, irrevocable living trusts can’t be modified or terminated. In this type of trust, the grantor gives up complete control over the trust property. The grantor’s assets are moved to the trust when it is created, and the assets are no longer considered their property.
Powers of Attorney
The power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that gives power to another person to make either a limited or broader set of decisions for you. You can authorize a trusted person as your “attorney-in-fact” to act on your behalf to make legal, financial, and/or healthcare decisions should you become disabled or incapacitated. Keep in mind that you must sign this document when you are still mentally competent for your power of attorney to be valid.
There are different types depending on what your needs are. It may be in the form of Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA), Healthcare Power of Attorney (HCPA), or Financial Power of Attorney (FPOA). Your appointed attorney-in-fact will have the legal authority to manage your assets, handle your finances, pay your bills, file required estate tax returns, and make tough healthcare decisions for you.
Probate/Estate Administration
Probate is a court-supervised process of distributing your property after you die. During this process, a probate court validates your will, authorizes your executor to distribute your estate to your beneficiaries, and pays any taxes your estate may owe. Probate laws may vary from state to state. Therefore, it is important to consult a top-ranking Pearland estate planning lawyer to help you prepare an estate plan according to state laws.
If you have no will, the probate court will name an administrator for your estate. He or she is responsible for locating any legal heirs of the deceased, including surviving spouses, children, and parents. The court will decide on what assets will be dispersed among the heirs and how to distribute them in compliance with the probate law.
Avoiding Probate
Probate is known for being an unnecessarily complicated, costly, and lengthy procedure. In some cases, it can take years to finalize an estate, especially if it involves a contested will. There are several ways to avoid having your estate caught up in the probate process.
Pay-on-Death Accounts
One of the easiest ways to protect certain assets from going through probate is by converting them to “transfer- or payable-upon-death accounts”. This is an effective option to use for estates that are primarily composed of financial accounts. To do this, you have to fill out a form in which you list your beneficiaries. When you die, your account goes directly to your beneficiary without going through probate.
Revocable Living Trust
By giving ownership of the property to the trustee, the property is no longer a part of your estate. Therefore, it is not required to go through the probate process. After your death, the trustee can easily transfer the trust property to the family or loved one you left it to, without probate.
Joint Ownership
In addition, joint ownership is another estate planning tool that can bypass probate litigation. If one of the property owners passes away, the property will automatically be transferred to the other owner. In this case, it is crucial to ensure that the property title includes both owners.
Why Choose Scott M. Brown Associates as Your Estate Planning Partner?
Proper estate planning allows you to organize your financial affairs and to simplify the transition of property and assets to your surviving family members when the time comes. It is the key to ensuring that everything that you will leave behind when you die will be managed and handled accordingly. Without a plan in place, there could be a long-lasting impact on your loved ones.
At Scott M. Brown Associates, we have decades of extensive legal experience in estate planning. We have been helping clients and families who are going through difficult times by giving legal advice on various estate planning matters. Our experienced Pearland estate planning attorneys will help you assess your assets, design an estate plan that meets all of your needs and protects what matters most. Our competent estate planning legal team will guide you in choosing the best way to transfer your assets, establish guardianship for your minor children, and protect your loved ones when you die. Contact our estate planning law firm now and schedule an initial consultation.
