Overland Park Living Wills Attorney

A Will or Trust is the main component of every estate plan, even if you don’t have a lot of assets. Wills help to ensure that property is passed according to an individual’s wishes (if drafted according to state laws). However, a Trust provides so much more. Besides avoiding probate (which prevents your heirs from receiving their share of the estate for at least 1 ½ to 2 years and the courts will deduct 8% – 10% of the value of your estate, plus attorney fees), the tax benefits (which are always subject to change),a Trust gives one “privacy” (not being recorded with the County Records like a Will is), you can establish various multiple distributions of your estate (to avoid a potentially immature recipient), and a Trust is far less likely to be open for attack, than a Will.

Beneficiary Designations

There are a limited number of your possessions that can pass on to your heirs without being spelled out in the Will or a Trust. This is exactly why it is paramount to designate a beneficiary and contingent beneficiary in your Will or Trust. In fact, all retirement accounts and insurance plans should contain a beneficiary and a contingent beneficiary because they too typically pass outside of a Will.

Pour-Over-Will

This document acts as a safety net, in the event you do not transfer some of your assets into your Trust. It essentially tells the court that “Oops, I forgot to move this asset into my Trust. So, please act as if I did and distribute it according to my directions spelled out in my Trust.”

Living Will

A Living Will is becoming more and more important as a protection for you and your family. This document says that in effect that, if your life is being sustained solely by artificial means, it is your desire to pull the plug. By making this decision before the onset of major medical problems, you want the right to die with dignity and not simply being kept alive by a machine.