Estate planning is beneficial to individuals and couples of all ages and at all stages of their lives. Creating a comprehensive estate plan allows people to manage wealth during their lifetime, direct the distribution of assets after death, and establish a plan for care in the event of incapacity or a need for guardianship of a minor or special needs child.
Estate planning allows people to protect and manage assets, take tax advantages, address community and separate property, plan lifetime and post-death gifts, establish investment vehicles for children and surviving spouses, make donations to charities and non-profit organizations, plan for temporary and permanent incapacity, and to provide loved ones with instructions about how to handle your affairs.
It can be difficult to make time for something that seems tied to uncertain outcomes like incapacity, or death in the seemingly distant future. Estate planning gives you some control over those uncertainties and offers peace of mind. Your estate plan demonstrates your wishes and removes that decision-making from your loved ones, which can prevent family disagreements at very difficult emotional times. In addition to the many lifetime benefits of estate plans, having your estate in order has the potential to resolve later disputes. An estate plan may also allow your heirs to avoid probate, which can be an expensive and lengthy process.
Most of the estate planning process does not need to happen in person (even though we always enjoy seeing our clients!). For those in-person meetings, we accommodate our clients by offering meetings in either of our San Mateo or San Francisco offices, as well as in-home visits. We also offer meetings outside of regular business hours and on the weekends.