Estate PlanningThe first step in estate planning is to get to know about you, your family, and your goals. This will be the focus of the initial meeting. We will provide you with a comprehensive questionnaire designed to aid with this important step, or you can download it from the Estate Planning Questionnaire section of this page. We will then meet to discuss your goals. I will often ask questions that will get you to think of what you would want to have happen in situations about which you might not have previously given any thought. The purpose is to make certain that what you intend is what gets into the final documents. Based on all of this, I will then discuss with you the different approaches that might be employed, get your thoughts on the different possibilities, and will then make my recommendation as to the estate planning documents that in my judgment best meet your goals. Some clients do not require any estate planning documents, and if that is the case, you will be advised of that, as well. The documents then are drafted and sent to you for review. After you have reviewed the drafts, the final documents are prepared and an appointment is set for you to come to the office to execute them. Various estate planning documents may be sed. They include:
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Estate Planning QuestionnaireDownload my Estate Planning Questionnaire |
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A New ApproachNew provisions enacted by the Montana legislature in 2007 have prompted us to develop a new approach to our estate planning documentation. We have been in the forefront of developing a method to use an unfunded inter vivos revocable trust (sometimes referred to simply as a living trust, or as a revocable trust) as the centerpiece of the estate plan. This is contrary to what had been the conventional wisdom, but is now being recognized as a good innovation. Employing this approach can allow you the benefits of continuing to hold all your assets in your own name, of avoiding probate (the common reason given for many who employ living trusts), and bringing centralized coordination back to your estate plan. My article outlining this method was published in the May 2011 issue of The Montana Lawyer, and received an award for the best article published over the prior year. You can read the article, A Second Look at Living Trusts, by clicking the link to it in the Estate Planning Articles section of this page. |
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Estate Planning ArticlesHere are links to articles and outlines I have prepared on Estate Planning. (Caution: These have not been updated since they were written and consequently do not reflect any subsequent changes in the law.):
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Estate Planning Links
MontGuides:
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