The Different Estate Planning Tools

How will your assets be distributed? Who will make your health care decisions if you are incapacitated? How can you protect assets from judgment creditors?

At The Cohn Law Firm, LLC, we have been helping clients make sound plans since 1996. We are committed to making sure your assets are distributed as you wish, without undue taxation or probate costs. Our lawyers will work with you to ensure your vision for the future is implemented.

Thoughtful estate planning includes addressing a variety of issues, including financial and health care responsibilities, guardianship over children and loved ones who have disabilities, taxation and asset protection. Most estate plans designate who will be responsible for making decisions about these issues along with documents granting the authority to do so: durable powers of attorney and health care directives.

Last Will And Testament • Revocable Trusts • Irrevocable Trusts

The foundation of your estate plan is the establishment of effective wills and trusts:

  • Wills — Depending on your needs, we can develop simple or complex wills to designate the beneficiaries of any personal property, guardianship of your children, and your funeral preferences, as well as specifying who will be the executor of your estate.
  • Trusts — Assigning property to a trust can serve a number of purposes, but one primary function is to exclude that property the costly and time-consuming succession (probate) process and limit its exposure to estate taxation.
  • Specialized trusts — We prepare both revocable and irrevocable trusts that help our clients reach a variety of goals. We assist with living trusts, special needs trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, charitable trusts, charitable remainder trusts, honorary trusts, generation-skipping trusts and others.

A review of beneficiary designations is also important, because these transfer assets outside of a will and the probate process.

Do Not Put Off Your Estate Planning

We take your estate planning goals seriously and provide cost-effective, efficient legal services in a friendly and professional atmosphere. To schedule a confidential consultation, call us at 225-754-9868 or send us an email.

Please review our Probate and Estate Planning FAQ for additional guidance on the estate planning process.