No Time Like Now to Get Your Estate Plan in Order

With summer winding down, and a new school season upon us, now is not only a great time to buy fresh school supplies and sharpen all your pencils, it’s also a great time to to meet with an estate planning attorney and review your current documents or start from scratch. No matter your age or stage in life, there is no time like the present to ensure that your affairs are all in order 

Plakas Mannos’ experienced and diligent estate planning attorneys are here to help you create an estate plan that works for – and protects – you and your family. While the foundation of any estate plan often begins with setting up a Will, the possibilities from there are endless. By evaluating your unique financial and family situation, and your goals, we can advise you on practical steps to take to prevent unexpected but preventable consequences like unnecessary taxes or costs and fees for your family upon your passing. Now is a great time to start that process. 

Understanding the Glossary of Basic Estate Planning Terms 

Thinking about your – or your family’s estate plan – can be daunting. Most people don’t know whether they need a will or a trust, or what a living will even is.  The  estate planning lawyers at Plakas Mannos are here to guide you through this process, starting with making sure you understand the estate planning tools that are most frequently utilized, such as the following: 

• Will – A Will gives you the ability to decide where and to whom your estate (the assets and property you own) will go following your death, as well as who will take care of your minor children and/or pets, if applicable. A Will helps to reduce or eliminate disputes between loved ones over who gets what and can help reduce or eliminate any estate and/or inheritance taxes that may apply.  It takes the guesswork out of determining your wishes. Your estate planning attorney can help determine whether a Will or trust is best for your needs. 

• Financial Power of Attorney – A Financial Power of Attorney provides someone you trust with the ability to access and manage your assets should you become incapacitated and unable to manage for yourself. In the event of a tragic occurrence that causes you to be unable to make financial decisions for yourself, the execution of a Financial Power of Attorney helps alleviate unneeded stress upon loved ones who will now be able to access your financial accounts and make any payments on your behalf that may be necessary for medical treatment, caring for your minor children or pets, staying up to date on mortgage or vehicle payments, enforcing claims, etc. A qualified estate planning lawyer will ensure your Financial Power of Attorney is properly drafted.  

• Healthcare Power of Attorney – A Healthcare Power of Attorney provides someone you trust with the ability to make critical medical decisions on your behalf when you can’t. This individual will be the one who medical professionals look to for crucial questions concerning your care and medical treatment while you remain incapacitated. Our estate planning attorneys can guide you through choosing a healthcare proxy.   

• Living Will – A Living Will definitively establishes your end-of-life wishes should you become permanently incapacitated with no chance of recovery. In such a circumstance, the Living Will allows you to pre-determine how such a situation will be handled, removing the anxiety of making this decision from your loved ones. 

• A Transfer on Death (“TOD”) Affidavit – A TOD Affidavit can be executed such that your home will transfer to your selected beneficiary or beneficiaries upon your death without requiring them to incur the time and expense of having to involve the Probate Court. 

Plakas Mannos Can Help you Assess Whether Your Situation Requires More Complex Estate Planning 

Whether you own a business, have a special needs child, want to reduce taxes, or just want to know your affairs are in order for your family, our estate planning attorneys provide custom strategies for every family. Once these estate planning building blocks are in place, we can also help guide you through more complex estate planning decisions that you may want to consider in order to provide for the future of your family such as business succession planning, trust administration, philanthropic planning, private equity investing, as well as an array of various other estate planning mechanisms. Such mechanisms are particularly important for individuals with unique considerations including, but not limited to, families with special needs children, small business owners, high net-worth individuals, etc. 

For instance, families with special needs children may want to consider setting up a trust to provide for the care of their child throughout the remainder of their life given that unique provisions are often required to ensure that the child is properly provided for. By way of further example, high net-worth individuals may want to consider setting up a trust to minimize any estate tax that may apply or to avoid immature decisions by their children should the individual unexpectedly pass. In sum, there are a variety of avenues to consider depending on the unique circumstances surrounding a particular individual and their assets. 

Give us a Call Today, and Start the Process of Creating an Estate Plan with Plakas Mannos 

Are you in need of an estate planning attorney near Akron or Canton or anywhere in Northeast, Ohio? Give our team a call today at 330-455-6112 to see how we can help you create a successful estate plan and start this next season of your life with the comfort of knowing you have a plan in place. Request a consultation today! 

Our Estate Planning Team

The estate planning team at Plakas Mannos brings together a wide range of experience to support clients with their personal and business planning needs. James Mannos focuses on real estate transactions, estate and probate matters, family law, and Claimant-side workers’ compensation matters. David Dingwell, a partner at Plakas Mannos, provides probate, estate, and trust administration and planning services, as well as ethics and professional conduct advisory services. Hunter Miller, an associate attorney, focuses on commercial litigation, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property litigation, and other practice areas that support strategic estate and succession planning.