Estate Planning in Georgia
Proper estate planning allows you to preserve the assets you’ve worked many years to acquire and distribute them as you direct following your death. A carefully crafted estate plan can also address management of your financial and personal affairs in the event you become incapacitated. It is a gift to your family and to yourself to have these matters settled and your wishes clear.
For the peace of mind of knowing that your legacy will be preserved and your loved ones protected, contact an estate planning attorney at R. Alan Cleveland, LLC in Georgia today.
An experienced estate planning lawyer can meet with you during a free consultation and discuss what is necessary to ensure your family’s future.
Why Is Estate Planning So Important?
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Our estate planning lawyers can help you make forward-looking decisions about the final disposition of your estate and personal property and about your end-of-life medical care. Having your desires set down in legal documents ensures that your wishes are carried out when the time comes. It can save your family time and money.
Without proper documentation, such as a will, a living will, and a power of attorney, other people whom you may not know will be in a position to make decisions affecting you and/or your family’s lives.
When someone dies without a will, the person is said to have died intestate. The courts must distribute the deceased’s property as required by Georgia state law without regard to what the person might have desired. If you were incapacitated by a stroke, car accident or a fall and could not make decisions about your health care, a judge may make decisions about your end-of-life care, particularly if family members disagree.
Estate planning can help ensure that your assets are distributed according to your desires and minimize taxes and other costs.
How Does a Last Will and Testament Work?
A last will and testament directs how the assets you own are to be distributed after your passing, such as to your children or other heirs. A will also can designate guardians for your underage children.
When a person dies, their estate goes through a legal process known as probate supervised by a local probate court. Probate is meant to ensure the deceased’s creditors and taxes are paid and leftover assets are then disbursed legally.
A will and last testament is the primary legal instrument that the probate court will rely upon to ensure that the estate is settled as desired by the deceased.
Without a will, the court will rely on Georgia’s laws of intestate succession to distribute assets. The laws require that assets go to the deceased’s closest relatives, typically children and a spouse, who split assets evenly, or if they do not exist, then other descendants (e.g., grandchildren), then parents, then siblings. If the deceased died intestate and had no spouse, children, or parents, then their siblings would inherit their estate.
Why Should You Give Someone Power of Attorney?
Giving another person power of attorney allows them to make decisions on your behalf. The power of attorney document specifies what powers you are granting your “agent” or “attorney in fact” and when those powers are to take effect and end.
It is a good safety measure to designate a trusted family member, friend, or business associate as your power of attorney to make decisions should you become unable to speak or act for yourself. A power of attorney that remains in effect even if you become incapacitated is called a durable power of attorney. Usually, a power attorney takes the form of a:
- Healthcare power of attorney. This allows your agent to see medical records and be advised of your condition by doctors and make healthcare decisions for you. Along with a healthcare power of attorney, you may establish a living will, which establishes whether you want life-saving measures carried out and under what circumstances you would want them discontinued.
- Financial power of attorney. This allows your agent to make financial decisions for you, which may range from paying your bills to directing tax and investment strategy or selling off assets.
- General power of attorney. This typically combines financial and healthcare authority and/or other responsibilities as spelled out in the document, such as ensuring your general welfare and upkeep.
A power of attorney can generally be drafted to grant authority as specified, though a power of attorney cannot transfer the power to make or alter a will. A power of attorney ceases upon the principal’s death.
What Are the Benefits of Establishing a Trust?
A trust allows its trustees to manage assets held by the trust agreement. The bylaws of the trust specify what may be done with the assets held in the trust. A trust can be used to avoid going through the public probate process.
Upon your death, your assets are owned by the trust, so they are not part of your probated estate. Meanwhile, the successor trustee takes control of the trust’s assets without the matter being aired in probate court.
In an irrevocable trust, assets and appreciation on those assets over time can be sheltered from estate tax after your death. A revocable trust doesn’t offer the same protection, but you remain able to change the terms of the trust agreement at any time.
Trusts may be established for numerous purposes. Trusts may name beneficiaries, such as children or grandchildren, and designate when they receive a benefit (usually money) from the trust.
Contact our Georgia Estate Planning Attorneys Today
Our Georgia estate planning attorneys at R. Alan Cleveland, LLC can help you plan for the future and maximize the value of your estate by minimizing taxes and planning for the orderly transfer of assets outside of the probate process. When the time comes, our firm will be there to facilitate the transfer of assets and explain to family members, heirs, and beneficiaries their rights and obligations under the terms you specifically left behind in your estate plan.
Don’t wait any longer. Contact R. Alan Cleveland, LLC, today for a free consultation with a Georgia estate planning lawyer. We’ll review how our firm can help you put together an estate plan that serves your goals, protects your wealth, and provides for your family and heirs.
An Athens resident Alan Cleveland grew up in Rockdale County. As a founding partner of the personal injury law firm of R. Alan Cleveland, LLC he proudly serves his community and provides skilled representation to injury victims and their families all around Georgia. Alan earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and went on to graduate, summa cum laude, from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. He is also a graduate of Gerry Spence’s renowned Trial Lawyers College (TLC) in Wyoming. In his free time, Alan frequently speaks at continuing legal education seminars. He also volunteered as a youth baseball coach and assists with Georgia’s high school moot court competition held annually. Alan serves as a Trustee of Historic Athens and is a member of the Development Authority of the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County.
