Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Old Couple Ready to Sign — Cleburne, TX — Bradley Law Firm

Estate Planning Services

With exceptional service and skilled guidance, the wills, trusts and estates attorneys at Bradley Law Firm help families across the wealth spectrum craft customized estate plans with confidence and ease.

Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney

Estate planning involves anticipating and arranging for the management and distribution of your estate during your life in the event you become incapacitated, and after your death. With an estate plan, you can mitigate against default inheritance laws, privacy restrictions, and tax laws that could cause your loved ones avoidable financial surprise, frustration, and additional grief.

The typical estate plan includes three key documents: a Last Will & Testament, a Medical Directive, and a Financial Power of Attorney.

A Last Will & Testament expresses a person's wishes for payment of debts and distribution of assets at death. It can appoint a guardian to care for minor children or loved ones, or include a Testamentary Trust for their long-term care, wellbeing, or education. A Will allows you to appoint a person or persons you trust to administer your estate and ensure the directives in your Will are carried out.

A Medical Directive, otherwise known as a Living Will, allows you to appoint a medical power of attorney to make important medical decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated.

A Financial Power of Attorney can be broad or narrow in scope, and can be springing (become effective only if you become incapacitated) or durable (become effective immediately). It allows you to appoint an individual you trust as your Attorney-in-Fact, and grant them the ability to access accounts or deal in real estate on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated.

An estate plan may also include property transfers which create joint ownership of real estate, life insurance and IRA or 401(k) beneficiary designations, joint bank accounts, strategic business planning, limited liability companies, family partnerships, private foundations, and a revocable or irrevocable trust.

Trusts can offer many benefits, such as:

Probate avoidance, allowing for the distribution of income and principal without requiring court approval.
Wealth preservation for future generations by use of spendthrift provisions and conditions that gently guide beneficiaries to use their inheritance wisely.
As a tool to reduce a grantor's estate to enable the grantor to qualify for government benefits not otherwise available given income limits.
As a tool to minimize state inheritance tax or federal estate tax, and in some cases to minimize income taxes during one's lifetime.

Each trust should be carefully crafted to fit the grantor's individual needs and planning goals. Trusts may allow more advantages in some states than in others. Before executing a trust, it is important to speak with a knowledgeable estates and trusts attorney in your state -- one who takes the time to understand your goals -- to determine if a trust is the right estate planning tool for you.

When should your estate plan be updated?

Your estate plan should be reviewed every year to make sure it still reflects your wishes and circumstances. If it has been more than five (5) years since you drafted your will, trust, power of attorney, or medical directive, you should schedule an appointment with an estate planning attorney to ensure they still comply with the law and offer the same benefits you expected them when you first signed them.

Need help remembering to update your plan or determining when it's time to update? Ask about our annual client maintenance plan which includes an annual check-in call and review of your documents to recommend whether you need to amend your will, trust, power of attorney, or medical directive.

If you are ready to sleep better at night knowing you have a solid plan in place, schedule an appointment today.

Your estate plan should reflect your life and family.

Estate Planning for Blended Families

Estate planning for blended families can be a complex and challenging task. It requires careful consideration to ensure that all family members are provided for in the event of a parent's death. When creating an estate plan, parents may need to balance the desire to treat all children equally with the need to provide for your surviving spouse, stepchildren, or children from a previous marriage. An estate planning attorney can help you design a plan that is right for your blended family.

Estate Planning for Small Business Owners

What will happen to your business when you are gone? Estate planning for business owners is important if the business owner wants to ensure the business lasts after they pass away, or that it is wound up smoothly. Business owners should think about how their business will continue to operate in the event of their death or incapacity. This involves creating a business succession plan outlining how the business will be managed when you are gone or incapacitated, how it will be transferred or sold, and how the income from ongoing operations or proceeds from the sale of the business will be distributed. Additionally, business owners need to consider the tax implications of their estate planning decisions, such as estate and gift taxes, and take steps to minimize their heirs' tax liability. It's important for business owners to work with an experienced estate planning attorney who can help them create a plan that meets their unique needs.

Estate Planning for Young Families

Estate planning is an important step in providing for the future of your young familiy. While young families may feel like they have plenty of time to create an estate plan, unexpected and unfortinate events can happen at any time. It's better to start early, when you are of sound mind and can make decisions, than to not get a chance to at all. If you have young children, your plan should consider guardianship arrangements in the event that both parents pass away, as well as how your assets will be distributed. Creating a will, power of attorney, and a healthcare directive can help ensure that your wishes are followed in the event of a tragedy. Additionally, young families may need to consider life insurance policies to provide for their children's financial needs, and a trust to simplify the distribution of assets to care for their young children. Working with an experienced estate planning attorney can help young families navigate the complex process of estate planning and create a plan that meets their unique needs. By simply planning ahead, young families can ensure that their loved ones will be taken care of, no matter what the future holds.

Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples

Unlike married couples, unmarried couples do not have the same legal protections when it comes to inheritance or decision-making rights. If you are unmarried but have a long term partner that you wish to provide for when you are gone, or wish to allow them to make healthcare and financial decisions for you if you become incapacitated, it's important to have a comprehensive estate plan in place. Without a will, an unmarried partner is not legally entitled to inherit anything from their partner's estate, which can lead to complications and legal battles. Additionally, without proper planning, an unmarried partner may not be able to make medical or financial decisions on behalf of their partner if they become incapacitated. To prevent these scenarios, unmarried couples should create a will, healthcare directives, and power of attorney documents. Working with an experienced estate planning attorney can help ensure that unmarried couples create a plan that meets their unique needs and provides for their partner in the event of their death or incapacity.

Estate Planning for High Net Worth Families

Estate planning for high net worth families is a complex and multifaceted process. For these families, creating a comprehensive estate plan often serves their goals to protect their wealth, provide for their loved ones, and minimize tax liability. One tool that high net worth families may consider is a revocable or irrevocable trust. Revocable trusts allow for flexibility and control during the grantor's lifetime and can avoide the probate process, while irrevocable trusts offer greater asset protection and tax benefits. Tax planning is also a vital part of the estate plan. This involves creating a strategy to minimize estate and gift taxes, such as using lifetime gifts, charitable giving, or irrevocable trusts. Working with an experienced estate planning attorney can help high net worth families navigate the complexities of estate planning and create a plan that meets their unique needs.

Don't wait until it is too late.

Create your estate plan today!

Schedule a Consultation

What is it like working with us?

If you choose to work with Bradley Law Firm to design your estate plan, you will receive not only solid and enforceable wills, trusts and powers of attorney, but also intangible benefits which set us apart from many other estate planning law firms:

an accountability partner to help you put your plan in writing and keep it updated as your life evolves;

knowledge about essential estate planning tools, including how and when they are used, to empower you to make important decisions about your assets and loved ones;

tools to keep your important information and assets organized throughout your lifetime, and accessible to your fiduciaries; and

most importantly, help implementing your plan by providing assistance with updating beneficiary designation forms, preparing and recording deeds and preparing bills of sale for lifetime property transfers, trust funding, and more.

Estate planning can be intimidating. Our approach simplifies and clarifies the process so you can sleep better at night knowing that your loved ones are protected. And unlike many other estate planning firms, we will not simply hand you complex documents and leave you to sort out what to do with them on your own!

For your convenience, we can help you design your estate plan remotely or with in-person guidance, whichever best suits your needs. We also offer flat fee pricing so you know the cost of our services up front. For more information on our pricing, schedule a consultation.

Schedule a Consultation

Bradley Law Firm offers a unique spendthrift trust designed for high net worth individuals and business owners, available for purchase through trust tax accounting firm TrustIFS.

Tell me more about the trust

Order a Spendthrift Trust

Stay up to date on current trends and changes in the law in estate planning and probate by subscribing to our newsletter!

At Bradley & Hammond Attorneys at Law, we are passionate about providing our clients with the most up-to-date information and resources on estate planning, trusts, wills, and probate. Past issues of our newsletter are provided below for easy access. To have the newsletter delivered to your email, join out mailing list.

January 2023 Newsletter - click to download PDF