Experienced Estate Planning Advice in Metro Washington
At Pirsch & Associates, we help families in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and Maryland with the decisions that can prove essential to a smooth transfer of assets from one generation to the next. Our advice can also help you anticipate and plan for the best ways of dealing with the challenges of old age, including all the problems associated with diminished mental capacity.
Contact an experienced estate planning lawyer at our office in Alexandria to learn how we can help you assemble a basic estate plan or advise you about problems unique to your situation. Elizabeth Pirsch has worked with individuals, families and small businesses on both sides of the Potomac since 1983. Her solutions can save you and your family time, money, stress, confusion and conflict.
Basic Estate Plans Include a Will and Powers of Attorney
While most people understand that a last will and testament is the most common way to document their wishes as to the transfer of assets after death, they often use other methods outside their last wills and testaments to transfer assets. No matter whom a last will and testament designates as a beneficiary, a jointly titled asset passes to the surviving joint owner or to the designated beneficiary. Our attention to detail in the titling and type of your asset in the preparation of your will can help make sure that there will be no confusion as to who inherits what assets after you're gone.
Powers of Attorney Can Protect You and Your Family in Emergencies
If a serious accident or incapacitating illness renders you suddenly incapable of managing your own affairs or expressing your own decisions, your interests can be protected through financial and health care powers of attorney. We also recommend the appointment of an agent for medical purposes to advise doctors in the event of a medical emergency and you are unable to voice your preference for medical care.
These instruments specify trusted persons to act in your place under defined circumstances and within certain limits. They can save your family from disagreements as to what your intentions might have been, and can even avoid the need to seek appointment of a guardian to protect you.
There's no escaping the fact that many people outlive their sound judgment, and it's common for elderly people to find themselves vulnerable to exploitation, abuse or neglect. A sound estate plan anticipates the possibility that you might need some extra help later on, and helps you plan for those needs on your own terms.
Preparation for Estate Plans for People Interested in Avoiding Probate
Our estate planning practice can advise you about revocable trust packages with powers of attorney, which can essentially replace the last will and testament as a way to transfer wealth. A revocable trust has the added advantage of helping you bypass the probate process and its related expenses.
We also help people with special needs trusts, gift and tax planning advice, irrevocable trusts and the full range of elder law services. To learn more about our estate planning practice, contact Pirsch & Associates in Alexandria, Virginia.
