Estate Planning

Caring for Your Family Today and in the Future
Wills • Trusts • Livings Wills • Guardianship • Powers of Attorney

When a person is seriously ill or after the death of a loved one, family members often feel overwhelmed with grief or worry, burdened by the many details that need to be handled, and confused about the next steps to take. A legally valid and up-to-date estate plan and living will can relieve family members of this burden and help ensure that your wishes are honored.

Houston estate planning attorney Sarah Grimm helps individuals and families prepare for the future with confidence by preparing estate plans, drafting wills, establishing trusts, preparing livings wills and setting up powers of attorney. Contact The Grimm Law Firm to schedule an initial consultation.

The Grimm Law Firm provides such estate planning and asset protection through the following:

* Wills (both simple and tax planned)
* Powers of attorney
* Physician’s directives (Living wills)
* Bypass and marital trusts
* Generation-skipping trusts
* Charitable remainder trusts
* Life insurance trusts
* Other types of revocable and irrevocable trusts
* Estate administration
* Irrevocable trusts
* Family limited partnerships
* Limited liability companies
* Partition/Prenuptial agreements

Distributing Assets: The most basic estate planning tool – a last will and testament – ensures that the people you want to inherit your property will actually receive it. A will is the best choice for people with minimal assets. Ask an experienced estate planning lawyer if a legal will is the right estate planning tool for you.

Protecting Wealth: Estate planning tools can shelter income while you’re alive, as well as shelter assets from estate taxes after your death. Family limited partnerships and trusts can transfer assets, transfer control of a family business, provide for educational needs of children or medical needs of elders, or give money to charity. Partnerships and trusts are more costly to establish and maintain, but they do not go through the probate process. This often makes them a cost-effective option.

Medical and Financial Decision Making:
Living wills and advanced medical directives communicate your wishes regarding end of life medical care to doctors and family members. Durable or revocable powers of attorney give decision making authority to another party for medical or financial decisions. If an elder family member is in the early stages of Alzheimers, a durable power of attorney will allow another family member to handle financial affairs when they are no longer able to do so.

Medicare and Medicaid Planning: Healthy elder spouses are often left impoverished when the other spouse becomes frail or ill and requires nursing home care. Medicare and Medicaid planning in advance of a move to a nursing home can ensure the healthy spouse has a home to live in and income to support them, while also providing for the needs of the spouse requiring care. We can assist clients in setting up a Miller Trust to help them qualify to receive Medicaid benefits. By establishing a Miller Trust a person can obtain Medicaid nursing home coverage despite having too much income to qualify for such coverage.

Caring for Children, the Elderly and Disabled Family Members: Guardianship and conservatorship transfer decision making and financial authority to a competent adult to ensure the care of underage children, the elderly, and family members who cannot care for themselves due to mental or physical illness or disability. Special needs trusts can provide ongoing funds to ensure medical treatment is available.

Probate/Estate Administration: The Grimm Law Firm provides legal counsel to help people who have been named executors to an estate fulfill their duty in probating an estate.

Business Succession Planning: The Grimm Law Firm advises clients on how to shield their businesses from events such as divorce, remarriage, death of an owner, or withdrawal of an owner. We help our clients plan for the succession or disposition of the business.

Put your mind at ease and know that in the event of your death or illness all the important details will be handled effectively and sensitively and that your family will be secure in your absence. Contact a Houston estate planning attorney at The Grimm Law Firm to discuss an estate plan that is right for you. Your initial consultation is free.

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

Copyright © 2011 by The Grimm Law Firm Attorney Sarah Grimm, P.C. All rights reserved. You may reproduce materials available at this site for your own personal use and for non-commercial distribution. All copies must include this copyright statement.

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