What are the historical origins of Estate Planning?
Estate Planning is an area of Family Law that can be traced to the Magna Carte singed by English Nobleman and the King of England on June 15, 1215, almost eight hundred years ago. The Magna Carte introduced legal protections for people other than the King.
Among those legal protections is the right to decide what happens to your property. For many hundreds of years it simply meant the right to control survivorship of your estate. While Estate Planning originally just determined what happens to your property upon death, it means a whole lot more now.
Isn’t estate planning just getting a will? What is estate planning?
“Here’s a multiple choice: the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is: A. whatever the IRS says. B. a smart lawyer. C. 10 years in prison. D. All of the above.” – Gene Hackman as “Avery” in the Firm.
If you think estate planning involves only a simple will, you’re wrong. It’s much more than that. Estate Planning is much broader, more important, and more immediately impactful in your life. Estate planning preserves your wealth.
Other benefits include protecting your privacy, reducing your taxes both now and later, and having complete control over your legacy. Proper Estate Planning can mean the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.
Yes, good estate planning will help you reduce your taxes, but estate planning itself isn’t one document like a marriage contract or divorce decree. Proper Estate Planning encompasses a multitude of both decisions you must make and legal documents (numbering well into the hundreds) that implement those decisions for you.
The documents themselves can range from the incredibly simple like those you download from legal zoom to the arcanely complicated. Estate planning documents can vary from a simple will to a credit shelter irrevocable trust.
Your goals determine the complexity of the estate planning documents. If the goal is to just tell the court who gets what furniture, a simple will from legalzoom or your local yellow pages lawyer will do. If your goals are more ambitious, you will need more documents than just a simple will.
For our clients, it means getting a package of documents prepared to implement their wishes regarding wealth preservation, privacy protection, tax avoidance, and legacy determination.
It may include a complex will that establishes a special needs trust for a downs syndrome child and/or establishing a pour-over will that puts all of your money into a trust upon death. Your imagination sets the limit on what you can do.
What is the difference between estate planning and Washington State estate planning?
Estate planning itself is just the area of law. Washington State estate planning involves provides estate planning for you and your spouse that is custom tailored under Washington State estate planning laws. If you live in Washington State, you probably want the services of a Washington State estate planning attorney and not some attorney out of Florida who hasn’t even been to Seattle.
Does everyone need estate planning?
No. If you have less than $100,000 in total assets, you don’t need our services. We recommend less expensive alternatives like the yellow pages or legalzoom.
If you feel you need to protect your privacy, preserve your wealth, or mark your legacy, you need to see if a Washington State estate planning attorney makes sense for your specific circumstances.
Contact our office at (206) 633-2015 to arrange a consultation with one of our estate planning attorneys if you want to preserve your wealth and legacy.
