Wealth Transfers & Estate Planning
In 2000, Shari Bevan founded the Law Office of Shari Mattingly-Bevan in Santa Ana, California. Her practice focused on the areas of probate, estate planning, estate and trust administration, as well as estate and trust litigation.
Estate planning is necessary and operates in conjunction with a client’s retirement and long term care planning. Estate planning documents plan for incapacity and the transfer of wealth upon one’s death. A comprehensive estate plan should include a living trust, pour over will, durable power of attorney for financial affairs, health care directive or medical power of attorney and a living will (right to refuse life support document). Many people overlook the need to plan for incapacity. If someone becomes incapacitated, it can be complicated from a legal perspective. If someone becomes incapacitated and that person does not have a durable power of attorney, then court involvement, as well as oversight, becomes necessary. Court involvement adds unnecessary legal expense, time delays and often frustration.
Furthermore, when people fail to set up an estate plan, their estates inevitably must go through a probate proceeding. Probate is the legal procedure used to determine the decedent’s (deceased person) heirs at law, to ensure the decedent’s creditors are satisfied and the transfer of assets to the intended beneficiaries under a will, if the decedent died testate (with a will), or to the heirs at law if the decedent died intestate (without a will).
What’s your legacy plan?
How do you pass your wealth on to your beneficiaries? How do you direct assets to charitable interests? How do you protect your business interests and keep them positioned for success in the future? Thinking about these questions may be unpleasant, but they should be considered, and decisions made. Download our complimentary, no-obligation guide, “5 Steps to Legacy Planning” to help you create a dynamic legacy plan.
Estate planning is also an opportunity for tax planning. The current status of the federal estate tax laws are such that some estates will be required to unnecessarily pay a federal estate tax, without additional tax planning. An experienced estate planning attorney will incorporate reliable estate tax planning principles into a comprehensive estate plan.
Shari Bevan is not a South Carolina licensed attorney; however, she does work closely with several top estate planning attorneys in the area to assist her clients. Please contact her office, should you need a referral to an estate and tax planning attorney in the Greenville area.
