Estate and Emergency Planning

There is no age or wealth threshold – everyone should have an emergency and estate plan prepared. Period!

Did you know that unless you plan in advance, it will be the government and courts and NOT YOU who will decide:

• whether your spouse can get access to bank accounts, and other items in an emergency situation when you are temporarily not able to do so
• whether or not to keep you on a artificial life-sustaining devises in case of emergency
• who will take care of your minor kids in case something happens to you and your spouse
• what portion your money your spouse will be able to use for herself and your kids (amount may not be sufficient)
• exactly who will get and exactly how much will get out of your estate – may not be what you expect
• how much in taxes government will take away from your estate (sometimes almost half) – thus becoming your biggest beneficiary
• how much of your assets can be taken away from you and your estate by your and your beneficiaries’ creditors
• how many months and possibly years and how many thousands of dollars, at times, it will take for your beneficiaries to receive your assets

DID YOU KNOW THAT WITH THE RIGHT PROFESSIONALS MOST OF THE TIME THERE ARE WAYS TO PREVENT ALL OF THESE UNDESIRED CONSEQUENCES?

A sad truth is that any person who just graduated from a law school or any “can do it all” general practice attorney (who does everything – divorces, real-estate closings, immigration, etc.) can “hang a shingle” and say that he or she can do estate planning and in essence fill-out a pre-typed/fit-all will that simply states “who gets what.” In reality, to perform comprehensive estate plan requires years of training and experience in many complex fields, such as estate planning (wills and trust law), tax law (estate, trust and income tax laws); asset protection law; elder law; Medicaid law, and many other complex areas of law. Melnik Law Group brings many years of training and experience in all of these areas of law to each of our client’s estate and emergency planning needs.

We will analyze your unique family, health and asset situation, your emergency and dispositive wishes and concerns. Then, we will create a plan of action - your emergency and estate plan. This plan’s goals will be effectuating your wishes in the way that best protects you, your family and your assets, while minimizing or eliminating income, gift and estate taxes. This estate plan may involve creation of most sophisticated and customized wills, trusts, complex legal entities such as family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, living wills, healthcare proxies and directives, durable powers of attorney, life-time asset transfers, guardianship provisions, and many other cutting edge emergency and estate planning tools.