Today I would like to remind you to review your estate planning needs and make sure your documents are in order. Young families raising children should have a properly executed Last Will and Testament along with Powers of Attorney. If you are traveling out of the country, or for an extended period of time and will be away from your children, you may want to provide the children’s care giver with a Power of Attorney for Parents and temporary custody affidavit.

Empty nesters will generally see their estates grow as the children have left and their daily expenses are curtailed. With an expanded family, with son/daughter in law and significant others involved, along with grandchildren, a proper estate plan is the most important thing you can do for your family. This may include a Revocable Trust and Last Wills and Testaments. You may be able to consider non-probate transfers such as a Beneficiary Deed for your home. Plans involving vacation property can be tricky, in terms of how the property should be devised as well as who in the family should receive the property or, in many cases, be a manager of the property for the family. A Trust explaining how the property should be used and who should control the vacation property is a great estate planning tool.

Finally, many of us are now running our own business, and these present their own unique estate planning needs. With partners or other stockholders involved, putting together a business transition plan helps keep the business running if an unfortunate loss of a business member should occur. A properly drafted and funded Buy-Sell Agreement can help, along with preparing the Articles of Incorporation/Operating Agreement to cover these contingencies. We can help you navigate the legal documents and prepare the documents that best suit your situation.

Call the David Schmidt, Woodlawn Law Offices, at 636-240-6667, to schedule an appointment today. You and your family will be grateful if anything should happen.