Estate Planning

Howie Law Office provides legal services in the areas of estate planning, trust administration, probate estate administration, special needs trusts, guardianships, family business succession, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax planning.

Estate planning allows people to provide direction about the disposition of their assets after their death. Estate planning can include wills and trusts together with other collateral documents as well as powers of attorney and health care directives.

Proper estate planning can help to increase the size of an estate, whether large or small. Its basic purposes are to (1) choose how property will be distributed after death, (2) plan for the care of loved ones and for the client's own disability, and (3) minimize both income and estate taxes.

Your estate may be taxable. If the total fair market value of you and your spouse's assets (including the death benefit of your life insurance policies) is $2,000,000 (which is the amount of the current estate tax exemption) or more, your estate is taxable. Currently people can leave to their survivors up to $2,000,000 (for the years 2006-2008) without paying federal estate tax. Although a spouse can leave an unlimited amount to a surviving spouse without having it subject to the federal estate tax, if the couple's estate plan documents are not properly drafted, the first spouse to die will lose his or her exemption and the result is that the second spouse to die only gets his or her exemption. The exemption will increase to $3,500,000 in 2009. In 2010, the federal estate tax is eliminated; however, in 2011 the estate tax is scheduled to return and the amount exempt from estate tax will be $1,000,000, unless Congress enacts additional legislation.

Each individual's estate plan is unique. There is no "one size fits all". At Howie Law Office, we offer personalized service as we work with clients to determine and attain their goals and accomplish their objectives.