California Wills & Trusts Attorneys
Assisting with Last Wills, Advance Directives, and other Estate Planning Documents
The attorneys at Schlecht, Shevlin & Shoenberger, A Law Corporation have decades of experience drafting wills, trusts, advance health care directives, and other estate planning documents for clients in Palm Springs and throughout Riverside County, California.
The Importance of Wills, Trusts, and Advance Directives
When an individual dies without an estate plan, his or her estate gets distributed through the public probate process according to California’s statutory scheme of intestate succession, without due consideration for the tax consequences of involved. When his or her mental condition deteriorates prior to death, his or her family members are left to make difficult financial and medical decisions without guidance from the one person whose opinion matters the most.
In a nutshell, these are the problems that can arise in the absence of an estate plan.
At Schlecht, Shevlin & Shoenberger, A Law Corporation, our lawyers prepare comprehensive, tax-sensitive estate planning documents tailored to our clients’ unique personal and family circumstances. We regularly assist clients across California in preparing:
- Wills
- Revocable Living Trusts
- Durable Powers of Attorney
- Advance Health Care Directives
- Community Property Agreements
- Generation-Skipping Trusts
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
- Special Needs Trusts
- Other Advanced Trusts
Beyond preparing your initial estate planning documents, we also provide a wealth of ancillary legal services, such as:
- Analyzing the viability of various probate avoidance techniques;
- Coordinating beneficiary designations for life insurance, retirement benefit accounts, and other assets;
- Ensuring property is properly titled and trusts are appropriately funded;
- Planning for the possibility of subsequent incapacity or disability; and,
- Revisiting and updating existing wills, trusts, advance directives, and powers of attorney.
Our goal is to ensure that each and every client understands, feels confident in, and has taken the steps necessary to effectively execute his or her estate plan.
Tax Planning
Tax planning is an inherent part of the estate planning process, and we counsel our clients on estate planning strategies to minimize income, gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Our attorneys also advise clients regarding gifting strategies utilizing the annual gift tax exclusion and the use of irrevocable trusts.
Seek Experienced Legal Counsel for Your California Will or Trust
For trusted advice and experienced estate planning representation from an established Coachella Valley law firm, contact Schlecht, Shevlin & Shoenberger, A Law Corporation today.