The comprehensive Estate Plan that Chip designs for you will be a result of personal counseling and creative solutions.  The documents will be customized to accomplish your dreams and desires for yourself, the ones you love, and your charities. 

The Foundational Portfolio of Estate Planning Documents includes:

• Revocable Living Trust

Your Revocable Living Trust is the foundation of your estate plan.  It eliminates the cost and delay of probate.  It contains your instructions for your own care and the care of your family should you become incapacitated.  It establishes the distribution of your assets upon your death.  It allows you to keep your instructions and financial affairs private.

• Pour-Over Will

Your Pour-Over Will leaves any property not transferred to your trust before your death, to your trust.  It functions as a safety net to ensure that property is managed by your successor trustees as provided in your Revocable Living Trust.

• Nomination of Conservator

If you become incapacitated, you will already have selected who you want to handle your affairs, so that a court does not take control and select someone of their choosing.

• Nomination of Guardian

If you have minor or disabled children, your local probate court will generally defer to your choice of a guardian for them in the event of your death or disability,  if you make your wishes known.

• Power of Attorney

You appoint an agent to act for you if you become incapacitated to handle your property and financial affairs.

• Privacy Affidavit

When you transact business on behalf of your trust, you may be asked for a copy of your trust document.  If your trust includes personal or financial information that you want to keep private, you can substitute this affidavit of trust, which contains only the provisions that the financial institution needs to see.

• Advance Healthcare Directive

This document authorizes your agent to make medical decisions for you if you cannot make the decisions yourself.  It includes continuation of life support systems and other medical treatment preferences.  It prevents doctors, courts, or others from acting in ways that don’t meet your wishes.  There are three components:

1. Living Will  allows you to spell out the medical treatment you want, including nutrition and hydration, feeding tubes, pain medication, and resuscitation
2. Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care  authorizes someone to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so
3. Organ Donation Authorization  allows you to designate whether you do or don’t want to be an organ donor

• HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is an authorization for release of protected health information to those you choose, as required by law.

• Community Property Agreement and Separate Property Agreements

Each agreement sets forth how each of you owns your portion of your assets and property.

• Personal Property Memorandum

This is a form on which you can record written instructions directing the distribution of your personal effects, such as jewelry, cars, and furniture.

• Trust Transfer Deed

We do the paperwork to transfer ownership of your home into your Revocable Living Trust, and complete the Preliminary Change of Ownership to avoid tax reassessment of your property.

• Trust Identification Card

We provide a laminated wallet card, which includes  the name of your trust and your trustee title, to make it easy for you to transfer your other assets into your living trust.

• Memorial Instructions Form

We include a form for you to complete which designates your burial or cremation wishes and a description of the memorial service you would like.

• Personal Information Form

We include a form for you to complete which includes a Document Finder, Key Advisors to be Contacted, Relatives and Close Friends to be Contacted, and Life Insurance Information.

• Funding Instructions

We provide detailed instructions that explain how to transfer your assets to your Revocable Living Trust and how to name your trust as your beneficiary.

• CD copies

Once you have signed your documents, we scan the original documents and cut a CD for you, and for your successor trustees and children, if you desire.

• Estate Planning Portfolio

To help keep you organized we provide a quality three ring binder in which to store all these important documents.