• Trusts & Estates
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Trusts & Estates

Your estate is more valuable than you realize. At Hilton & Associates, we will evaluate your estate thoroughly in light of all possible legal concerns and traps, meticulously assess your desires, and recommend an estate plan fully addressing both.

Estate Planning involves your possessions, your children, and your wishes; it is your legacy. We work with you to get your estate in order and relieve the burden on your loved ones at your passing, as well as planning and executing your desires for the long term. Estate planning is crucial in order to protect your assets.

We recognize how difficult it can be to plan for the future, so we try to make the process as accessible and affordable as possible. We feel the proper preparation of the following three documents are essential to a effective estate plan:

Last Will and Testament A Will is an important legal document; one that should accurately reflect your wishes within the framework of the law. We will guide you through the difficult decisions so that your wishes will not be subject to a will contest or other misunderstanding.

Advance Medical Directive We can help you draft a document that will name someone you trust to make medical decisions for you should you become incapacitated, and that will identify your medical care wishes as completely as possible.

General Durable Power Of Attorney (POA) If you become incapacitated, your loved ones will not be able to draw on individually titled assets. With a POA, they can avoid the costly process of appointing a guardian for you and direct their attention and energy more meaningfully towards caring for you. Seek legal consultation prior to entering into a POA to fully understand your rights and answer your questions; we can draft a POA that is just right for you.

Additionally, trusts can be extremely helpful tools in shielding your assets from unnecessary tax burdens and in carrying out your wishes for the use of your assets by your beneficiaries after you pass away. Your estate should be analyzed by a lawyer to determine whether an intervivos or decedent's trust would be helpful to you for any reason.