What If You Had the Power to Change the Future? And perhaps to undo the past? Would you do it?
What if you were handed a magic wand and it had the power to right a wrong, do something that was overlooked, take care of something you may have forgotten, help a friend or relative you always meant to but did not find the time or way to do it, or show your appreciation for some-one’s kindness that helped you in your moment of need, yet you always felt that you did not repay that kindness well enough?
What if you were given a power to see into the future and with the power create a lasting legacy, ensure peace between your children, spouse and other loved ones, prove to them that no matter what happened in the past you love, appreciate and are proud that they are your family, keep creditors, the government, financial predators out of your household, create a world for the people that are important to you where there is certainty?
You Have the Power to Create Order Out of Chaos
At the moment you are reading this you have in your hands the power to shape the world of your assets and belongings, to make sure that what you worked so hard to earn and leave behind you, goes to who you desire it to go to, so that there is no question, no conflict, no reason for anyone to question your intentions, to fight or get ugly, and that its done in a kind, legal, well thought-out, non-chaotic and loving way.
If there comes a day when you are not able to speak for yourself, you also have the power to decide who will speak for you to doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers.
If you ever get to the point where you can’t think clearly enough or can’t remember well enough to deal with banks, accountants, Social Security, taxing authorities, Medicare, landlords and pay bills, you can appoint someone ahead of time, someone you trust implicitly, to help you through those difficult times.
The Basics Last Will and Testament
In this document you provide:
Health Care Power of Attorney
Financial Power of Attorney
You can think of these documents as preparing the way to help you walk through a door from life as you knew it before, and into a quality of life you never expected, but protected yourself by preparing for it.
What happens If You Die Without a Will
You would be surprised by how many famous people died without a Will and the chaos left behind –
| Abraham Lincoln – U.S. president | Howard Hughes – aviator and industrialist |
| Jimi Hendrix – rock guitarist | Bob Marley – singer and musician |
| Pablo Picasso – artist and painter | Sony Bono – actor and singer |
And what happens if you don’t?
The answer is that the state has written a Will for you, but it decides who gets your property—not you, which can make for some very odd and strange outcomes.
Let’s say that a married couple has children that are mutually theirs but the spouse who dies also had children by another relationship. In that situation the surviving spouse keeps their own half of the property BUT the deceased’s children (all of them) receive the deceased person’s property.
That means that if the couple was buying a home together and almost had it paid off, the deceased’s children get half of the couples’ property.
Makris Law Firm Probate Reviews
The law does not care whose blood, sweat and tears paid for it.
When a person dies without a Will, the court appoints an Administrator of the Court’s choosing to manage the Estate, (instead of an executor who you could have appointed in a Will) who has to prepare written accounts to the Court for every asset, account for every liability and debt, and get permission from the Court for every expenditure. Oftentimes the cost of just the Administrator’s fees and the professionals they hire could burn 25% or more of the value of the estate. The Court also has to declare who the heirs of the Estate are. In the Howard Hughes estate several hundred people claimed to be heirs. The case finally got settled after 34 years of litigation and the Estate was divided among 11 cousins. You can imagine that every one of these cousins had an attorney representing them and what the legal costs were after 34 years of legal battles at an average of $300 per hour.
What Happens If You Do Not Have Powers of Attorney and You Become Mentally Disabled
A power of attorney signed while the signer is still mentally alright is still effective even if the signer becomes mentally disabled later, if the signer chose to make it a “durable” power of attorney.
The Power of Attorney can be made “durable” meaning that it survives the signer’s later mental incapacity, which means that the person appointed can still act for the signer.
True Story
A client came to our office within the last 5 years to sign her Last Will that we prepared, with her daughter.
We assumed she also wanted Powers of attorney, so we prepared those too. But when she came in, she insisted that she just wanted the Will and not the Powers of Attorney, even after I explained to her the effect of not having them.
Well, within a month, we got a call from her daughter asking if by chance her mother had signed the powers of attorney.
Why?
Her mother had a stroke, was not responsive, and the hospital was asking for either a Power of Attorney or an order appointing a guardian.
Guardianship?
Doable but this is easier said than done. A guardianship requires an application to be filed with the Probate court together with their doctor’s certification that they are not mentally able to make their own decisions and will need assistance with financial affairs and making medical decisions.
The proposed Ward (the person who needs the guardianship) is served with the papers and the court appoints a lawyer to file an answer for them in court. Both the attorney and the court’s investigator look into the matter to determine if there is a true need for guardianship. The reason for this is because the proposed Ward loses their civil rights in the process. Several months or weeks and several thousand dollars of expenditures later, a hearing is held to decide whether the court will appoint (in this example) the client’s daughter as her guardian so that she can enroll her in nursing home, and deal with her doctors, other medical providers, do her banking and handle her other affairs. Every year the daughter has to submit an annual accounting and to apply to get permission to make expenditures from her mother’s funds.
Having powers of attorney in place bypasses all of this.
If the mother had signed powers of attorney the day she was in my office, the daughter could have just presented them to the hospital, signed documents for her mother, and that would have been it.
Downloading Forms from the Internet – The Pathway to Parts Unknown
We have unfortunately reviewed dozens of Will forms that deceased persons innocently thought would take care of their affairs after they died, only for their family to find out that the documents are worthless.
We had one instance where the entire document was seemingly perfect. It was signed by the deceased in front of a notary, but no witnesses. – – Result? Not worth the paper it’s written on!
We had another case where the Will provisions where more or less alright a “Personal Representative” was appointed instead of an “Independent Executor” and did not exactly set out the deceased’s property and the division of it too clearly—Result? More trouble than it was worth trying to explain to a judge what the deceased intended!
Why Hire Us?
Experience
We have handled probate matters since 1977. We take the time to listen to your concerns, answer your questions, and develop a legal pathway that meets the unique needs of your task at hand.
Wills and Trusts
Our team will work closely with you to understand your goals and draft legal documents so that your wishes are carried out, and not debated or questioned.
Client-Centered Service
We are committed to communicating and working with you with compassionate support to guide you through every step.
Probate Administration
When a loved one passes away, we provide compassionate assistance in starting and guiding the probate process, the orderly distribution of assets and the fulfillment of the deceased’s final wishes.
Our experienced legal counsel assist in drafting your documents, presenting the Will in Court to have it declared the Last Will of the deceased, help to carry out the wishes of the deceased, giving the proper notifications to beneficiaries and creditors, settling any claims against the estate, assisting in the entire process, and when the time comes, distributing property to whom it was given by the deceased and wrapping up the estate.
Transferring Assets to Beneficiaries
Ultimately the job gets down to re-titling the assets into the name of the person who received the gift under the deceased’s Last Will. We can draft the Deeds, and other documents of transfer needed to reflect title ownership into the name of the beneficiary who the deceased left it to.
Trust Administration
The trustee appointed in a Will to manage the assets of a beneficiary has important duties and has to administer and take care of the assets until it’s time to turn them over to the beneficiary, under state Trust laws. We can guide you through these duties to carry them out proper.
Contact Us Today
During the initial meeting, we assess your case, explain your legal options, and provide a clear understanding of how we can help you resolve your Will, Trust, Estate, and Probate matters. We offer flexible appointment scheduling to accommodate your needs.
