Estate Planning and Preparation for End of Life
In addition to having provided estate planning services for nearly 20 years, I am a certified estate planner through the Michigan Institute for Continuing Legal Education , skilled not just in drafting the documents, but counseling you on the broad array of options available to you. This allows me to better meet the needs of my clients who are reaching a time in their lives where questions of what will happen to them if they have lingering illnesses and how their property will pass to their heirs are beginning to loom larger. When we are in our 20’s we just assume we will live forever. In our 30’s and 40’s we know we won’t live forever, but figure there is still plenty of time to plan for the future. In our 50’s and 60’s we need to start making appointments to see the lawyer for an estate plan. You may think you just need a will, but actually, a will is just one part of a proper estate plan. We now realize, more than ever before, that there are additional documents and tools that provide for end of life planning, avoidance of extended probate proceedings and preservation of the assets that you have acquired. Without minimizing the importance of estate planning throughout your lifetime – people sometimes die far sooner than anyone would have expected, but when you are without a comprehensive estate plan in your 50’s and beyond, it is time to pick up the phone.
As an estate planner, I can help you put property into trusts for spouses, children and grandchildren to ensure that your wishes are carried out. We discuss how you can protect yourself, your spouse during his or her lifetime and avoidance of unnecessary taxes. Perhaps more importantly, as a nurse and an attorney, I discuss with my clients the effect(s) of health-related issues on your life and your living arrangements, now and in the future. I work with my clients to establish an estate plan to meet their needs now, and we discuss what steps need to be taken in the future, anticipating changes in our circumstances and life events.
Some of the most vexing and emotional decisions that ever have to be made surround end of life issues. I can help you implement, in legal and effective documents, your wishes for when extraordinary life-saving measures should be attempted and when they should be respectfully and compassionately discontinued. Not only does this ensure that your wishes will be respected but it lifts an enormous burden from your loved ones who no longer need feel responsible for allowing life to end when quality of life has already ceased to be, but basic body functions continue only because of medical technology.
I often meet with clients in their own homes and have even traveled across the country to prepare estate plans for clients wintering in warmer climes. I look forward to helping you with your planning decisions.
As an estate planner, I can help you put property into trusts for spouses, children and grandchildren to ensure that your wishes are carried out. We discuss how you can protect yourself, your spouse during his or her lifetime and avoidance of unnecessary taxes. Perhaps more importantly, as a nurse and an attorney, I discuss with my clients the effect(s) of health-related issues on your life and your living arrangements, now and in the future. I work with my clients to establish an estate plan to meet their needs now, and we discuss what steps need to be taken in the future, anticipating changes in our circumstances and life events.
Some of the most vexing and emotional decisions that ever have to be made surround end of life issues. I can help you implement, in legal and effective documents, your wishes for when extraordinary life-saving measures should be attempted and when they should be respectfully and compassionately discontinued. Not only does this ensure that your wishes will be respected but it lifts an enormous burden from your loved ones who no longer need feel responsible for allowing life to end when quality of life has already ceased to be, but basic body functions continue only because of medical technology.
I often meet with clients in their own homes and have even traveled across the country to prepare estate plans for clients wintering in warmer climes. I look forward to helping you with your planning decisions.