Protect Your Wealth with the Best Estate Planning Attorney in Waco

Posted by P. James Rainey on January 12th, 2017

Estate planning can be defined as the process of planning proper distribution and administration of your assets after your death. It is unique to each family depending on the size, type, and financial position. It is considered as a preservation of wealth for the intended beneficiaries. Estate planning is a must for everyone since it makes sure that all assets you own including your home, car, bank account, etc. are handed over to the intended people smoothly.

Protection of your wealth can be achieved by various legal tools such as preparing a will, probate, giving power of attorney, life insurance or setting up a trust. Estate planning can help eliminate any uncertainties over the administration of your estate and get the most out of it by reducing the tax burden upon your death.

You can protect your wealth with the best estate planning attorney in Waco, in the ways discussed here.

Will

Making a Will is a basic foundation of your Estate plan in protecting those you love. It is crucial if you and your partner are not formally married since common-law spouses do not necessarily have the same property rights as legally married spouses. For a Will to be effective, it needs to clearly indicate the executant. An executant could be any person who can facilitate the execution of the will without any hindrance.

Probate

Probate is the process of legally validating a will in a court of law. If you have a spouse, one of the simplest strategies is to hold property jointly. If an asset is held in joint name by the spouses, it will not go through probate. Their share of the assets is transferred automatically to the survivor if one of them dies.

Power of Attorney

A power of attorney (POA) is the next document you will want to complete in your estate plan if you were to become incapacitated due to illness or injury and unable to make your own decisions. This acts as an authorization for a person to act on your behalf in business or private affairs.

Gift

Many parents gift their children a part of their inheritance in advance before they die. When you give gifts to children in the form of cash, it provides a benefit of saving taxes payable, either by you or your child. One has to clearly state whether the gift was an advance on their inheritance as per their share or in addition to their entitlement to avoid any confusion in the future.

Formation of Trust

Your heirs may be your minor children or spendthrift adults. You can set up a trust that will help the administration of the estate on behalf of the minor or prevent a spendthrift adult from squandering your hard-earned wealth. A trust is a legal entity that holds assets on behalf of the beneficiary and appoints a trustee to distribute them according to your instructions.

A proper estate plan will protect you, your family and your wealth. You will need an estate planning attorney in Waco to complete the process as quickly and efficiently as possible, so the assets can be legally distributed to the beneficiaries with minimum fee and tax liabilities.

ABOUT THE FIRM

Rainey and Rainey, Attorneys at law, LP is a premier firm in Texas that provides assistance to clients with complex issues involving Elder Law, Personal Injury and Estate Planning issues. They work by building a close working relationship with the client, recognizing their unique requirements and building solutions around the specific factors pertaining to each case.