Whitney Mediation & Legal Counsel, LLC

Legacy Planning

family

Peace, Protection & Prosperity for Your Loved Ones

Your selfless choice to create a legacy plan is a priceless gift to your loved ones. Your legacy plan answers the following crucial questions:

  1. What will happen to you, your posterity, and your property if you become ill or pass away;
  2. How will your property be used to help those you love when you are unable to decide this yourself; and
  3. What legacy, beyond your assets, will you leave your loved ones.

Three Reasons to plan Your legacy and Ensure It is Complete and Up-to-Date:

1.   Passing on Your Financial Legacy

  • With a Will, you can:
    • Minimize family stress, conflicts, and lawsuits caused by confusion about your wishes.
    • Name guardians for your children. You will prevent significant probate time and costs by designating your choice of guardian for your minor beneficiaries.
    • Have full control (instead of the courts) over where your assets will go when you pass
  • With your choice to create a Trust you will:
    • Avoid probate costs and delay. Your will can’t avoid probate or any of the costly time-consuming procedures involved with it
    • Minimize your taxes.
    • Preserve and protect assets for retirement and emergencies. Special trusts can protect assets from creditors, predators, divorce, emergencies, lawsuits, addictions, and long-term care costs and refusal of Medicaid benefits.

 2.   Your legacy plan will protect you in Emergencies by:

  • Deciding who will manage your financial affairs when you can’t.
  • Protecting your minor dependents from state custody and foster care.
  • Determining who will make healthcare decisions for you and your dependents when you’re unable to.

3.   Sharing Your Personal Legacy

  • Have guardians you trust in place to care for your family, if you’re unable to take care of them.
  • Record, protect and share cherished your values and messages.

How to Begin Your Legacy Planning

Do-it-yourself documents (e.g., Wills) are often inadequate for the following reasons and more:

  1. Your essential documents may be ignored,
  2. Any incorrect wording may change the meaning of your documents,
  3. Relevant laws affecting estate documents change regularly,
  4. Any failure to follow legal formalities will invalidate your essential estate documents
  5. The basic clauses in these documents usually fail to cover many circumstances

The most important step in legacy planning is finding the right expert to help you.

Your ideal estate planner will coach you through dozens of choices to create a personalized plan for you. Your best way to ensure that your plan’s success is to hire an expert who understands your unique situation and goals. Legacy planning is very difficult to do on your own, which is why it is best to have the help of a legacy planner.

To select your ideal legacy planner, start by creating clear criteria to evaluate candidates. Then, prepare specific questions to determine how well they meet your criteria. Some questions you may consider asking a legacy planner may include:

  • Why do you practice legacy planning?
  • How much experience do you have specifically in legacy planning?
  • How much of your work is focused solely on legacy planning?
  • What is your usual planning process?
  • How can you provide me with the best service possible?

Why Whitney Concord

At Whitney Concord, we provide you with flat-fee, high-value options for you whenever possible. Our flat- fee packages also enable you to contact Whitney Concord at any time 100% cost-free.

In addition to already providing you with expert counsel you will need on critical decisions, we will also focus on helping you:

  • Follow through with your legacy plans.
  • Manage and deter your conflicts and disputes.
  • Connect more meaningfully with your loved ones

To find out whether Whitney Concord is the best fit for you, you can review our clients’ feedback on the value of Whitney Concord’s legacy planning or call or email us today!