Legal Advice on Wills and Trusts

A will is a legal document that provides details of your wishes and intentions related to the distribution of your estate after you have passed. Wills can also be used to detail your intentions for any minor children in your care. Without a will, there is no way to be sure that your wishes for the estate will be carried out and your intended beneficiaries could lose assets in disputes over your plans for the estate. While no document will resolve every estate law issue, you can pre-empt some difficulties and questions about your wishes for your estate by leaving a will. Let Gordon H. Coffman assist you in drafting a will that would provide your loved ones with some certainty about your intentions.

A trust is a legal arrangement in which a third-party trustee holds and directs assets on behalf of one or multiple beneficiaries. Trusts are established so that the trustor, the person who sets up the trust, can put aside assets to be held for beneficiaries until a certain time. Trusts are often established for beneficiaries who are minors, with the beneficiaries eventually coming into possession of the assets sometime after they have reached adulthood. The trustee will typically act to minimize taxes on the estate and protect its value until the assets can be passed to the beneficiaries directly.

Similar to a will, an advance directive is a document that allows you to specify how you would like decisions about your medical care to be made in the event that you cannot make such decisions yourself. This document can inform your loved ones and any medical providers about the kind of care you want and who you want to make healthcare decisions for you. An advance directive is important because it can clear confusion or misunderstandings about your wishes for your healthcare. Advance directives only affect medical care. They have no bearing on financial issues or disputes. Call our office today to get help preparing an advance directive.

A power of attorney is a legal document that gives one person the authority to take action for another person. The person who creates the power of attorney and allows another to act on their behalf is called the principal. The person that the principal chooses to have power of attorney is known as the agent. A power of attorney is most often used when the principal has been incapacitated by disability or illness, or when the principal cannot appear to sign required documents in financial transactions. A power of attorney can grant an agent complete authority to make decisions for the principal or can grant limited authority in specified situations.