Estate Planning Attorneys - Red Bank, New Jersey
Proper estate planning protects your assets from creditors and minimizes the substantial burden of federal and state estate and inheritance taxes. When done correctly, it also identifies the trusted individuals who will manage your assets and provide for loved ones both during your lifetime -- should you become incapacitated -- or after your death. Through careful estate planning, you can minimize exposure to federal estate taxes and avoid unnecessary family conflicts by clearly expressing your wishes regarding your estate and its disposition.
Estate planning is more than writing a will. It includes planning for a period of time where you may be incapacitated due to medical treatment or an accident. Through the use of powers of attorney and healthcare directives, you can clearly express your wishes in the event of a sudden accident or illness. At a bare minimum, your estate planning should include a will, a durable power of attorney, an advance healthcare directive (living will) and a health care proxy. These four documents represent the core of a sound estate plan.
As your assets increase in value, more comprehensive estate planning may be necessary. Lifetime trusts, the purchase of life insurance and other tools may be appropriate to minimize estate and inheritance taxes. For those clients who own their own businesses, issues of succession and the continuation of a family business increase the importance of careful planning. Too often the busy pace of our lives compels us to put off this type of planning. Unfortunately, when tragedy or disability strikes, it is often too late for implementing many of the available estate planning strategies.
Our goal is to convince you to do what is minimally necessary to protect your assets and plan for the future. Ideally, when the unexpected occurs, your loved ones will have few decisions to make, because you have named fiduciaries to act on your behalf, established trusts or other vehicles for protecting your assets and identified the beneficiaries of your assets.
At Byrnes Kirkwood we evaluate the assets and life circumstances of each client, whether as an individual or business owner, and assess what asset protection and planning might be appropriate. These services include the preparation of:
- Wills
- Durable Powers of Attorney
- Advance Healthcare Directives (Living Wills)
- Advance Healthcare Proxies
- Irrevocable Trusts
- Charitable Trusts
- Special Needs Trusts
- Granted Retained Annuity Trusts
If you have wills and they are appropriate for your needs, we will leave them as is. However, we frequently find that wills and powers of attorney done years ago fail to incorporate important provisions that take into account changes in the law, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). When we engage in the estate planning process, we offer personal, professional service targeted toward developing long-term legal relationships that take into account the very personal circumstances of each client. Our partners, Sean F. Byrnes and Christopher Kirkwood, have more than 40 years of combined legal experience and are ready to meet to discuss your estate planning needs.
Contact Byrnes Kirkwood
To speak with a lawyer at our firm about your estate planning needs, call 732-219-7711, or contact us by e-mail.
