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Estates & Trusts
Estate Planning
Living Trusts
Irrevocable Trusts
Probate
Wills
Powers of Attorney
Trust Reviews and Amendments
Trust Administration
Family Law
Employment Law
Business Law
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We Care About Protecting You, Your Family and Your Assets
The importance of superior legal advice for executors of estates and trustees of trusts can't be overstated. When you need someone to listen, when you need proven legal advice for estate planning and trusts, come to Alvis Frantz and Associates. Our attorneys have helped many families retain the wealth they've accumulated by concentrating on one goal: “To serve the best interests of our clients.”
Our estate and trust services include:
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Estate planning: Executing a well designed estate plan will ensure optimal administration and disposition of your property for your family in a manner that will preserve your estate and minimize tax burden. Read More... |
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Living trusts: The most common trust used to provide people with a planning tool that can keep their assets out of probate, provide maximum control and privacy, and reduce or eliminate estate tax burdens. We are here for all of your living trust needs. Read More... |
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Irrevocable Trusts: When families and individuals are looking for ways to reduce estate taxes, shelter assets, provide for charities, or create a legacy for generations to come, Irrevocable Trusts can be an effective tool to achieve these and other estate planning goals. Read More... |
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Probate: When someone dies with incomplete or inappropriate planning, a court action called probate may be required to appoint an administrator of the estate. and to legally transfer assets to the appropriate beneficiaries. We're here to help you through this difficult process. Read More... |
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Wills: Either on their own or in conjunction with your living trust, our attorneys give personal service in preparing wills and keeping them up to date as your life circumstances and the law change. Read More... |
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Powers of attorney: When it comes to incapacity planning, powers of attorney are a must for protecting your finances and planning for health care needs. Our office provides comprehensive powers of attorney and advance health care directives to ensure you will have protection when the unexpected happens. Read More... |
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Trust reviews and amendments: Your life and the law are ever changing. If you haven't reviewed your estate plan documents, it's possible they may no longer reflect your wishes or meet your objectives. We are your partner to help ensure these important documents reflect your current day wishes. Read More... |
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Trust administration: When incapacity or death strikes, more structured trust administration begins and the task can be daunting. Let us help you through this process. We have the legal and financial knowledge to assure your trust is managed to protect the trust estate and its beneficiaries. Read More... |
Our other trust services include:
- Charitable remainder trusts
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts
- IRA stretch trusts
- Pet trusts
Estate Planning
Most people begin an estate plan to secure and control who will receive their assets after they die. While this is a wise practice, it is important to understand that good estate plans can also avoid probate, protect against incapacity and incompetence, help reduce tax burdens, and provide maximum control over the management of your estate by your beneficiaries. The lawyers at Alvis Frantz and Associates work with you to design customized estate plans.
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Living Trusts
Living Trusts are legal document that holds title or ownership to your real property and assets. They provide instructions for what you want to happen to your assets when you die as well as if you become incapacitated. When you create a Revocable Living Trust you transfer ownership of your assets to the trust, which is typically called “funding”. Unlike a will, when you die having a trust that is properly funded, your estate will not go through probate, will remain private, will be administered more quickly, will be administered less expensively, and can even provide you continued control over your assets.
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Irrevocable Trusts
Irrevocable Trusts are legal entities that hold assets for its beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust agreement as established by the grantor. Unlike revocable trusts, the assets held in these trusts cannot be taken out of the trust by the grantor and the trust cannot be changed. The benefits of irrevocable trusts are that they offer tax advantages and asset protection.
Some common Irrevocable Trusts are:
- Charitable Remainder Trust – In this trust, the beneficiaries receive the income from the trust assets and a charity receives the principal after a specified period of time. Benefits: The grantor avoids capital gains tax on the donated assets, receives an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the remainder interest that the trust earned, additionally, as the assets are gifted out of the grantor’s estate, it will reduce estate taxes (if any).
- Generation-Skipping Trust (also called a Dynasty Trust) - This enables a grantor to transfer up to the then current generation skipping tax exemption limit to family members at least two generations younger (usually grandchildren). These trust also provide an asset shelter for those beneficiaries.
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust - This trust removes the value of life insurance from the grantor’s estate and thereby reduces estate taxes.
- Qualified Personal Residence Trust - This trust can shield a home from estate taxes.
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Probate
Probate is the legal process where the court validates and interprets your will when you die, ensures that your debts are paid, and determines how and to whom your assets are distributed. If you don't have a valid will, your assets will still be probated, but they'll be distributed according to the state law of intestate succession.
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Wills
A will is simply a formal way of setting forth your wishes regarding how you would like your property distributed upon your death. A will should not only be for people who have reached an advanced age; every adult should have one to control the disposition of their assets. Avoid the financial and emotional turmoil of will contests and other legal disputes by contacting the experienced planning attorneys at Alvis Frantz and Associates today.
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Powers of Attorney
Every adult should have a power of attorney for financial affairs. If you can't conduct business or personal affairs due to mental or physical incapacity such as Alzheimer's, stroke, heart attack, etc., only a court appointed conservator will be able to sign for you without powers of attorney in place. Having to go through the court for this is a public process which can be expensive, time consuming and difficult to end should you make a full recovery. Let the attorneys at Alvis Frantz and Associates help you determine what type of powers you need so that your financial affairs will be taken care of by someone you trust if the need should arise.
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Trust Reviews and Amendments
With constantly changing laws, it's essential that your estate plan remain current. Asset portfolios also change over time. If new assets aren't properly funded into your trust, they could require a huge probate in the end. Don't neglect the primary reason you set up your trust in the beginning; let us help you keep your estate plan up to date with reviews, amendments, funding updates and restatements. At Alvis Frantz and Associates it is our continued goal to help our clients keep their plans up to date. That's why when you contract our office to plan your estate, we'll provide you with yearly check-up reminders and an opportunity for a free phone check up of your estate plan.
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Trust Administration
When someone dies, the successor trustee is responsible for gathering all assets of the estate, paying final expenses and debts, managing trust assets, paying taxes, and eventually distributing the remaining property to the proper beneficiaries. Different procedures will be required, depending on the type of assets, the ages of the beneficiaries, and the terms of the trust. If you have been named the successor trustee of a trust, your task of settling the estate may seem overwhelming. At Alvis Frantz and Associates we are hear to help you work through this process in a way that ensures your duties as trustee will be in compliance with the trust and with the law. Whether you just need a little help to get started or want someone to take the reigns and relieve your stress, we are here to be your partners through this process.
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