Estate planning has traditionally involved the fields of Trusts and Wills. Trusts allow us to control the disposition of our assets during life and after death. Trusts can protect your home and other valuables from income taxes, inheritance taxes and probate costs.

In many cases, preparing an estate plan only takes three or four hours of our time. When you consider that a probate can take from seven months to more than two years, and costs a minimum of $14,200 on a $200,000 house, the cost of an estate plan becomes very affordable.

Today, estate planning also involves work with:

• Anatomical Gifts.
• Directives to Physician (also known as "Living Wills").
• Powers of Attorney.
• Powers of Appointment.
• Pre-Nuptial Agreements.
• Irrevocable Trusts.
• Charitable Trusts.
• Asset Freezing.
• Gifting.

Asset protection consists of shielding our property and savings from the threat of lawsuits, business reversals, government regulation and unforeseen medical expenses.

Most of us have a home. Some of us are saving for our child's education. Many of us are building a business. All of us are preparing for our retirement. With an appropriate asset protection plan we provide for our family's future.

Generally speaking, asset protection plans utilize instruments such as family partnerships and spendthrift trusts. I include the use of:

• Family Limited Partnerships.
• Limited Liability Companies.
• Corporations.
• Catastrophic Illness Trusts (Medicaid Qualifying Trusts).

Real estate matters involve your personal home, commercial properties, and raw land. Our experience in real estate includes avoiding problems, solving problems, and litigating problems.

Real estate matters with which we can help you include:

• Purchase and Sales problems related to fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.
• Construction issues related to landslides, delay, and negligence.
• The creation, preservation, and extinction of easements.
• Adverse possession of easements and property.
• The dissolution of co-tenancies involving individuals or partnerships.