Estate Planning

Estate planning is the process of putting an individual's personal and financial affairs in order. The goals are to maximize the individual's enjoyment of his or her estate during his or her lifetime and the beneficiaries' enjoyment of the estate after the individual's death.
Estate planning involves:

• Managing the individual's real and personal property during his or her lifetime and providing for the disposition of the property before and after his or her death;
• Structuring business, investment, and employee compensation arrangements to better achieve these goals;
• Executing testamentary and related instruments incident to entering into a marriage or domestic partnership and the dissolution or termination of such a relationship;
• Protecting and managing the individual's estate in the event of his or her incapacity or financial misfortune;
• Planning for personal and health care decision-making in the event of the individual's incapacity; and
• Minimizing the impact of many different types of taxes.

One of the key benefits of successful estate planning is that it yields a comprehensive analysis of an individual's personal and family situation and his or her assets and liabilities. Another benefit is that the process yields a document (whether it is a simple or complex will or a trust instrument coupled with a "pourover" will) that governs the disposition of the individual's estate in a comprehensive manner. As a result of the process, Lyman & Potente, APLC becomes a knowledgeable team of advisors who can assist the fiduciary and beneficiaries with the administration and distribution of the estate following the client's death. Successful estate planning can thus provide welcome certainty and direction at a difficult time of transition.

Although clients' specific objectives with respect to their estate plans will differ, most clients share certain general objectives. They engage Lyman & Potente, APLC because they want to arrange their affairs to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their assets, during their lifetimes (including provisions for management of their assets and decisions regarding their personal and health care if they become incapacitated) and after their deaths. They also want to minimize the expense and taxation that can accompany the transfer of assets before and after their deaths.