Elyria Estate Planning Lawyers

Protecting Your Financial and Personal Decisions

To best protect your property and personal wishes at the time of your death or incapacitation, it is in your best interests to speak with an Elyria estate planning attorney about creating an estate plan. Composed of various documents, an estate plan instructs the court and organizes your property. Typically created by drafting a will and creating a trust, an estate plan is important for any family. This estate plan will then be used to quickly settle your estate through the probate process upon your passing.

To learn more about estate planning or probate, call our experienced lawyers of Berki & Nehr, LLC, at 440-323-0687. You may also contact our Ohio law firm online. We help families throughout Lorain and Cuyahoga counties organize their estates.

Protecting Your Financial Estate Now and During Probate

No matter the size of your estate, you need to ensure the court understands your intentions as to its administration. Failing to spell out your intention clearly will increase the time and money needed to probate your estate. Failing to state who your beneficiaries are forces the court to use Ohio intestacy law in distributing your property. While many estates require probate, the clearer your intentions are spelled out, the less the court will have to decide after you die. Save your family emotional stress by organizing your affairs now.

Our experienced estate planning attorneys arrange your estate to minimize the tax consequences and the discretion the court has in distributing your property. Transferring property into trusts before you die may also save your estate from paying excessive estate taxes.

Protecting Your Health Care Decisions

Drafting a living will and durable power of attorney ensures your intentions concerning health care are understood:

• Living will: This document describes the types of medical treatment you wish to receive if you become incapacitated.
• Durable power of attorney: This document grants authority to another person to make decisions about your finances and health care if you are incapacitated.

If you fail to draft these documents, it forces the court to appoint a guardian to make some very important decisions. The person appointed may not be someone who understands your wishes. Do not leave such an important choice to a stranger. Talk to us to learn how you can make your future health care decisions legally binding now.

Contact Our Ohio Probate Lawyers for More Information

To learn more about estate planning or the probate process, call an Elyria estate planning attorney from Berki & Nehr, LLC, at 440-323-0687. Submit your questions to us by filling out our online contact us form.