ESTATE PLANNING

Practice Areas
Estate planning is planning for the inevitability of death and the possibility of mental incapacitation during lifetime, the obtaining of life insurance to pay for the costs of a funeral and death taxes, and the preparing of wills and trusts. More comprehensive planning, such as complex wills, trusts and related estate planning documents may also be needed. It depends on the size of your estate and how comprehensive your planning needs and desires my be.

Asset Protection Estate Planning
Asset protection is the arranging of an estate plan that will not only protect one’s wealth from probate and estate taxes, but also from creditor claims and lawsuit judgments.

Family Limited Liability Companies
A Family Limited Liability Company has one or more owners who control the company and who manage all of the debts, liabilities and obligations of the company. The owners and managers will be family members of specifically family controlled entities such as various types of trusts and limited liability companies. Family Limited Liability companies are useful not only for reducing estate and gift taxes but also for reducing income taxes and the protection of family wealth from creditors.

Revocable Living trusts that reduce or eliminate the need for probate after death and in the event of mental incapacitation.

The Revocable Living trust is the premier way of controlling your wealth while you are alive, to take care of yourself and your loved ones in the event of disability, and to give what you have to whom you want, the way you want when you want. All of these things can be accomplished while also saving you every last tax dollar, court cost and professional fee legally possible. No other estate planning tool allows you to accomplish all of these things. Most will-based estate plans do not accomplish these things.

Irrevocable Trusts to protect, preserve and transfer wealth to children and other family members and to protect life insurance proceeds from estate taxes.

Various types of Irrevocable Trusts are used in estate planning to protect, preserve and transfer wealth to children and other family members or loved ones. Gone are the days when we were able to give or leave wealth directly to our children or other family members out right. Our litigious society makes it imperative that wealth be transferred to various irrevocable trusts. By transferring wealth to irrevocable trusts that you create for your children, other family members or loved ones, you can protect and preserve that wealth from lawsuits, creditors, divorce, and future estate taxes. Irrevocable trusts are also useful for to protect your life insurance proceeds for estate taxes. While it is true that life insurance proceeds will usually be income tax free, if you own any life insurance policies on your life the proceeds will be includable in the value or your gross estate for estate tax purposes. By transferring the ownership of your life insurance policies to an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) you can eliminate any potential estate taxes on your life insurance proceeds when you die.

The following is a list of additional estate planning services offered:

• Estate planning
• Powers of Attorney
• Health care proxies and living wills
• Business Entities planning
• Business buy-outs and sell-outs
• Post mortem living trust administration
• Wills, probate and estate administration

William W. Erhart, Estate Planning Attorney
William W. Erhart, P.A., located in Wilmington, Delaware, offers services in the preparation of revocable and irrevocable living trusts, health care proxies, living wills, life insurance trusts, durable powers of attorney, wills and other estate planning documents. We will develop a comprehensive estate plan for you and your family. Our focus is on minimizing estate taxes, preserving assets from catastrophic health care costs, and ensuring your continued security for the future.

We can also advise you with respect to nursing home issues, long term health care issues and gift and estate tax matters. We can assist in putting your affairs in order so as to minimize will contests and other problems that may occur at death.

William W. Erhart is dedicated to delivering quality legal services in a timely manner and, at the same time, providing these services with personalized attention and sensitivity to sometimes complicated personal and family situations.

Services include:

• Powers of Attorney
• Health care proxies
• Irrevocable trusts to preserve assets for children and other family members
• Revocable living trusts that reduce or eliminate the need for probate after death
• Estate planning
• Wills
• Probate of wills and preparation of estate tax returns

Note: The information contained in this web site is intended to convey general information. It should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. It is not an offer to represent you, nor is it intended to create and attorney-client relationship. Any e-mail sent via the internet using e mail addresses listed in this web site does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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