We develop comprehensive plans that incorporate the legal, financial, and health care needs of our clients.
Planning for your aging needs involves more than just getting legal documents. We help you create a comprehensive plan tailored to your particular financial, legal, health, and care needs. Our plans address the many pitfalls and unknowns of aging, including what to do when you don’t have children or other loved ones to help carry out your plan. Most people are not even aware of what they should be planning for or what their plan should include. We guide our clients through what could be a complex process by using simple to understand explanations and superior drafting strategies. We minimize expensive taxes, protect and preserve assets to take care of you, and help you ensure that your wishes can be carried out when the time is right. Our compassionate Care Coordinators get to know you, help you plan for aging on your terms, and provide support to you when you need someone to be there for you. We are here for you whether your family is near or far or has their own lives to worry about. Our steadfast team is here to support your journey on your terms.
Plan before you need it to make sure you have the right person looking out for you when you need it.
If you want to protect yourself from life’s unexpected events and have the security of knowing your finances will be protected and used for your care as you age, we’ve got a plan for you. Many people delay their planning because they aren’t sure who to choose as their agents or aren’t sure they are making the best choices. Our estate plans come with a one year guarantee that allows you to change your mind at no extra cost.
70% of those over 65 will need long term care. The average 65 year old receives long-term care services for approximately three years.
Most estate planning falls short, and here’s why:
They are just legal documents. There is no corresponding plan. If you don’t know how your legal documents are supposed to work and how they will protect you, you likely don’t have the most important part: your plan.
If you will need someone who is not intimately familiar with your health care and financial situation handling your business for you, your plan should be as streamlined as possible. A trust is a great way to ease the burden on your named agents and will save them time and effort later.
Most estate planning doesn’t include a plan for supporting and assisting your agent if and when they need it. It can be confusing and can be a burden, most plans don’t have a good solution for this.
If you do have a plan and know how it will work, there’s a good chance it’s not properly funded. A funded plan means that all of your assets (real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, brokerage accounts, life insurance, etc.) are titled in your trust or have the correct beneficiary designation. When you sign your estate plan, you should have a detailed instruction sheet on what to do with your assets so that your plan actually works!
All of our planning clients receive:
A thorough review of options for health care decision making plans and asset protection plans that are specific to your particular circumstances.
A detailed asset titling instruction sheet that you can use to ensure everything is done right, making it easier on your agents.
One year of support included. If you have questions after you sign, acquire new assets, want to change something in your documents, we’ve got you covered, at NO additional charge.
Common Questions
What is the difference between a will and a trust? What do I need?
Whether you have no will or have a super-complex will, any asset you have at your death that passes through your will has to be probated through the Probate Court. The Probate process varies by county, but generally takes about a year, allows anyone who says you owed them money to make a creditor claim against your assets, and takes your private financial and family information and makes it public record. A trust, on the other hand, is a private way to pass your assets to whoever you choose without interference by the government in how that happens. You get to choose who makes distributions, how they make those distributions, and it can all be done privately, while minimizing costs and potential litigation.
What is the cost for a will?
One thing we always explain is the critical need for a comprehensive estate plan. A will is only used after you pass away. It does you no good while you are living. A will can be a hassle to administer. A comprehensive plan that combines health care directives, a HIPAA for health care access, a robust financial power of attorney, beneficiary designations, a “just in case” will, and some form of a trust will normally achieve your estate planning objectives while minimizing costs. Our comprehensive estate plans start at $3,000 for one person and $3,500 for a couple. Our asset protection trusts can be added to an estate plan to preserve and protect assets if long term care is needed in the future. Asset protection trust planning starts at $5,000. Our life care planning services include assistance and visits from a caring member of our team who can support you through life’s phases. Our life care planning relationships can be added to our estate planning starting at $6,000.
Are there cheaper options?
Of course there are cheaper options. Our philosophy is that you get what you pay for and plan for. We all know this to be true. If you are driving in a rain storm and the car just ahead of you slams on the brakes, it’s too late to go and get better tires. It works the same way with estate planning, advising and guiding your agents, and asset protection. By the time you really need these services, documents and this plan, it is too late to get the better option. By putting your plan together now, you can ensure that mistakes, poor guidance, lack of funding, missed assets, and financial exposure can be avoided.
This is overwhelming. Is there an easier option?
If you want to plan ahead and you know it’s what’s best for you, but you just can’t seem to get everything together, we can help. We offer a simplified planning solution that does not require you to do quite so much, but still achieves your goal. Click HERE for our simplified option! I want info on a simplied planning option.
Lisa Hostetler Brown, CELA* Certified Elder Law Attorney, Certified by the National Elder Law Foundation
Lane Cook, CFP* Certified Financial Planner, conferred by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards
Pursuant to SC Ethics Advisory Opinion 17-02: Click on the hyperlinks on the bios on the Our Team page to see information about each designation or accolade, dates of designations, publication or entity, and standards for inclusion. No payment was required for designation or inclusion in listings.
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