Estate planning allows you to make decisions concerning the transfer of assets during your lifetime and upon your death.  We can draft documents that will allow your heirs to avoid the expense and delay associated with probating a will.  We can assist you in making decisions about:

• Healthcare Directives:  A healthcare directive allows you to decide who will make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make those decisions yourself.  Properly drafted, a healthcare directive can also give directions to healthcare providers relating to such issues as organ donation, visitation and life support. 

• Durable Power of Attorney:  A durable power of attorney allows you to decide who will make financial decisions for you as well as personal decisions when you are unable to make those decisions yourself.  Such a document should address your preference for guardianship of your minor children while you are unable to care for them, as well as allowing your agent to handle retirement accounts. 

• Revocable (Living) Trust:  A revocable trust allows for the transfer of assets during your life and upon your death.  This legal document can allow you to avoid probate and give your heirs privacy, as well as giving them the ability to close the estate faster and at less expense.  In addition, for parents who are divorced, a Revocable Living Trust allows you to name a trustee to administer your minor child's finances in the event you predecease him/her, instead of having the child's surviving parent control the inheritance. 

• Will:  A will governs the transfer of assets through the probate process.  Without a will, the statutes determine who will inherit assets, rather than you making that decision. 

• Funeral/Memorial Instructions:  While this document is not legally necessary, we encourage clients to have instructions to assist loved ones during a time when they are grieving.  Guidelines from you can mean so much to those you love when they are left to make these decisions.  Addressing all the needs of our clients is a core principle of the Law Office of Diana G. Bolander, P.C. 

If you do not have a durable power of attorney or a will, then anyone who has an interest in your estate can be appointed by the probate court as a guardian or executor, including a creditor.  If you do not have a healthcare directive or durable power of attorney, anyone who has an interest in you can be appointed a guardian, including the public guardian.  Attorney Bolander believes it is best for you to make the determination of who should make decisions for you when you are not able to do so, and you can do that through estate planning.

If you have questions or would like to make an appointment, please call us at (603)569-2924 or use our contact form.