What you should bring to your FREE initial Estate Planning consultation:

• List of Assets, including approximate value – if you have investment assets, please bring a recent statement from the brokerage house that holds the assets
• A recent bank statement
• List of names, addresses, and phone numbers for those to whom you plan on leaving assets in a will – usually this is children, relatives, or even charities
• A copy of the deed to any real estate you own – if you can find it
• Decide who you want to use as your agent under a power of attorney, and that person’s name, address, and phone number, if not included above
• Decide who you want to be in charge of distributing your assets upon your death, including that person’s name, address, and phone number, if not included above
• A copy of your current trust documents if you already have a trust.

What is Estate Planning?

Simply put, estate planning is figuring out what happens to your assets at the time of your death, and planning for how we get from here to there.  Preserving assets, protecting your interests, and setting up the proper legal documents are all parts of this process.

Estate planning not only includes planning for asset distribution upon your demise, but also encompasses advance directives, including advance healthcare directives, living wills, a health care proxy, a medical power of attorney, a financial power of attorney, and other documents to make your wishes and desires know in advanced decisions or advanced directives, directives that are personal to you so that your personal directives are known and carried out.

Creating Your Foundational Documents

A foundational document of any estate plan is a will.

A will is the document that directs how your property is distributed at the time of your death.  It is the will that directs how probate will be handled and instructs the probate court where property should go.  Wills need to be set up in accordance with the law of the state where you live.

Hedtke Law can assist in setting up a will that complies with California law.

Creating a Living Trust in California

A trust is an arrangement whereby property or assets are placed into a legal entity called a trust, so that property and assets can be held and used for the benefit of a person called a beneficiary.  A personal representative, called a “trustee,” controls property in a Trust.

There are many different types of trusts, some of which are useful to protect assets, avoid probate (in one, or many, states), minimize certain types of taxes, and allow control over money after one passes away.  Hedtke Law is familiar with these variations of trust types and can help you decide if a trust is right for you. 

People who own real estate in more than one state, or have a special needs child might need a trust.  Or, people who are aging and want to protect their assets from future medical expenses or other creditors might need a trust.  Even those who simply want to leave a legacy to their descendants could use a trust. Whether or not a trust is right for you can be part of a discussion with Hedtke Law.

At Hedtke Law, our estate law expertise saves you time and money when transferring an estate.  Everything necessary to plan for a smooth estate transfer to happen can be put in place by Hedtke Law’s lawyers.

Hedtke Law Group is an Estate Planning Attorney in Arcadia CA with decades of experience. Estate planning protects your personal assets from the claims of potential creditors.

Protect Your Personal Assets with Estate Planning Lawyer Arcadia CA

At its simplest, protecting your personal assets begins with umbrella liability insurance, married couples’ ownership of their homes in tenancy by the entirety (as opposed to joint tenancy), and basic exemption planning by the preferential holding of assets in forms that are exempt from judgment execution.

Use Limited Liability Entities

At a greater level of complexity, this planning includes the cost-effective use of limited liability entities. At its most complex, this planning also involves the use of irrevocable offshore and domestic asset protection trusts with trust protector provisions. However, even an ordinary revocable grantor trust, if fully funded, confers a measure of asset protection after the grantor’s death. Get our experienced estate planning lawyer Arcadia CA to protect your asset.

Asset Protection through a Financial Plan

Asset protection in the larger sense, like estate planning, extends to the judicious selection and diversification of investments in accordance with an overall financial plan. Hedtke Law Group is pleased to work closely with certified professional financial planners and other highly qualified insurance, investment and accounting professionals, when and as indicated by our clients’ interests, as part of an overall professional team working together to further our clients’ interests.

All the estate planning attorneys in Arcadia CA of Hedtke Law Group seeks to protect their clients’ assets in the most cost-effective way possible. Mr. Hedtke’s experience in bankruptcy law and creditors’ rights enables us to provide this assistance to clients at a reasonable cost.