8 STEPS TO CREATING YOUR ESTATE PLAN IN THE NEW YEAR

Procrastination is often the biggest enemy of estate planning!

We’ve all heard stories like this: A couple is about to head out on a prolonged business/pleasure trip involving considerable air travel. Panic sets in five days before their departure when it dawns on them that they don’t have Wills. Though immediate outreach to their attorney may enable them to get documents drafted and executed before they leave, this scenario is hardly ideal.  Harried or rushed actions can result in improper or faulty planning, which in turn may lead to family misunderstandings and disputes, assets going into the wrong hands, court cases, and the corresponding expense in legal fees and/or taxes.

As the saying goes, there’s no time like the present, even when planning for events likely to occur in the distant future. The New Year is the perfect time to get started or review a plan you already have to make sure it is on track.

Wherever you are in your estate planning process, our eight-point New Year’s checklist will help you get off on the right foot.

1. Make an appointment with an experienced estate planning attorney

There’s no better way to get the wheels turning than to sit down with an attorney experienced in estate planning. In this initial visit, your attorney will familiarize you with all the issues you must consider.

Estate planning is serious business and far more than a last-minute scramble to execute a Will. Its goal is to ensure the seamless transfer of assets to your heirs. It also safeguards your assets and the care you receive during times of critical illness if and when you cannot advocate for yourself. Estate planning takes considerable thought, important family conversations and the painstaking development of a plan geared to your unique family situation.

2. Take inventory

Assimilating information on your assets, tangible and intangible, is critical. This means listing what they are and how they are held. Some of these assets will pass to your survivors under your Will, others will pass to beneficiaries outside of your Will.

Tangible Assets include Real Property, land and whatever is built on it, typically your house, and Personal Property, which includes your physical possessions: jewelry, art and antiques and other collectibles; television sets, computers and other electronics. These will be just some of the items on the list.

Intangible assets include the things you own on paper: bank accounts, stocks, bonds, insurance policies, and retirement accounts (IRA’s). Items like bank accounts and stocks and bonds in a brokerage account likely will pass through your Will or to a joint account holder. Items like your insurance policy, IRA or 401(k) already have named beneficiaries and will pass to your survivors outside of your Will regardless of what your Will dictates.  Reviewing these distinctions is a KEY piece of crafting an appropriate estate plan.

3. Get organized

Getting organized is another vital step. It requires that you create a spreadsheet that itemizes all of the above items, again both tangible and intangible. Make copies of deeds and mortgage documents related to real estate, make copies and place originals and copies in a safe place. Ideally, your estate attorney will retain the original and a trusted designee named in a legal document will securely retain the other.

All documents should be recorded on a spreadsheet which accurately identifies the institution or institutions in which an asset is held and account numbers and passwords to the accounts, and contact information for the representative in the institution who handles your account. It is imperative that your estate attorney and the designated fiduciaries have copies of these spreadsheets or knows where to find them.

If you have a safety deposit box that holds important documents or information, make certain your attorney and survivors know the box number and in which bank the box is located. It is advisable to provide your attorney and your designees an extra key.

Note: Once you and your attorney have actually developed a plan, you will have created a Will, Durable Power of Attorney, Living Will and Advanced (Healthcare) Directive, essential documents which may be held in your safety deposit box and/or with your attorney as well as with other fiduciaries and designees.

4. Designate Fiduciaries (Financial), Healthcare Proxy and Create the Necessary Documents

Fiduciary roles refer to any person or institution that has the power to act on your behalf in situations in which you are no longer capable of acting or advocating for yourself and following your death. Plus, any adult can serve as your Healthcare Proxy. Fiduciaries can assume many roles in your estate, and, depending on a particular fiduciary designation, can act either before or after your death…or in both situations.

The law stipulates that your fiduciaries be legally competent individuals over 18 years of age and capable of managing their own affairs. But that’s where the requirements stop and where your careful thought and good judgement come in. Because these positions require the utmost honesty, loyalty and trustworthiness, the individuals you choose must be able to set aside their own personal inclinations and motivations to act in a manner consistent with your financial and health goals. Plus, if you have children who are minors, it is wise to appoint a guardian who will parent in a manner consistent with your parenting style and love your children as you would.

Each role requires a different skill set. To choose the most appropriate fiduciary, align the strengths and characteristics of the person you want to designate with the functions required for that position.  It is also advisable to have an alternate or backup in case logistically there is a problem with the primary person being available when it’s time to serve.

Keep in mind also that you must reach out to the individuals whom you want to serve in these roles and ask/confirm that they are willing to assume the associated responsibilities. While being selected may be considered an honor, these positions take time, require work and, in many cases, require a stalwart mindset.

5. Draft your Will

A Will is one of the main, if not the primary, components of every estate plan, even if you don’t have substantial assets. Wills ensure property is distributed according to your wishes and drafted according to state laws. In it, you state who you want to inherit your property, name the person (the Executor) who is in charge of distributing your assets as instructed in the Will, and address the contingency of the simultaneous death of you and your spouse, name a guardian to care for your young children.

Simply having a Will isn’t enough, though. The proper wording of the document is critically important, which is why it is highly recommended that you work with an estate attorney when executing this document. Sometimes, when individuals try to do this themselves with one of the Do It Yourself apps, they overlook important considerations or fail to comply with laws in their state. This can cause probate problems that may require your heirs to spend time and money attempting to rectify misstatements, omissions and other mistakes

6. Consider a Trust

A trust is legal entity that allows a third party, or trustee, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary or beneficiaries. Trusts can be arranged in many ways and can specify exactly how and when your assets pass to your heirs.

Trusts typically avoid probate, so your beneficiaries may gain access to these assets more quickly than they might to assets that are transferred through a Will. And, because assets that you’ve held in a trust may be able to pass outside of probate, this saves your heirs time, court fees, and potentially reduces estate taxes as well. An irrevocable trust, for example, may not be considered part of your taxable estate, so fewer taxes may be due upon your death.

You can specify the terms of a Trust down to the letter, controlling when and to whom distributions may be made. What’s more, if you set up a revocable trust, the Trust assets remain accessible to you during your lifetime; you designate to whom the remaining assets will pass, even when there are complex situations such as children from more than one marriage.

A properly constructed Trust can also help protect your estate from your heirs’ creditors, future ex-spouses, or from beneficiaries who may not be adept at managing money. Again, working with an experienced estate attorney will ensure you set up a Trust with the best governance for your unique situation.

7. Make a Living Will

A Living Will, also called an Advanced Directive, is a written statement that details the type of care you want or don’t want if you become incapacitated. A Living Will bears no relation to your conventional Will or Living Trust used to bequest property upon your death. It’s strictly a document that spells out your health care preferences and addresses a number of possible end- of-life care decisions and whether you want or do not want them. While you may indicate you do not want heroic measures, you must define heroic and answer questions regarding whether you want:

Creating your Living Will requires you to think about your values as well as your wishes: Questions like how important it is to you to be independent and self-sufficient? What circumstances might make you feel like your life is not worth living? Would you want treatment to extend your life in any or all situations, or only if a cure seems possible?

Also, beyond treatments during illness, you can specify your wishes to donate your organs and tissues or donating your body to scientific study.

8. Draft a Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney (POA) is a very important estate planning tool which allows a person you appoint—your Attorney-in-Fact or Agent—to act in your stead in financial and legal matters.

A POA grants broad authority to your agent to sign documents, pay bills, and conduct financial transactions on your behalf.  In other words, your agent will be authorized to handle “the business” of your life.

The Bottom Line 

As is evident from the above considerations, there is more to estate planning than deciding how to divvy up your assets and provide for your loved ones and other beneficiaries when you die. Estate planning also ensures that the right individuals have access to your assets upon your temporary or permanent incapacity so that your affairs can be handled appropriately and the care you receive will ensure the dignity and quality of life you deserve and desire.

While estate planning may seem like a bleak and uncomfortable task for the start of a new year, it is a necessary one to address. You can adjust your mindset to think of your estate planning in a positive light. Just consider: Thorough preparation now will give your family peace and comfort and a stress-free probate process at some future time when your family will be dealing with emotions of loss and sadness.

When you think of estate planning in this way, you will likely come to realize that planning today is a gift you are giving your loved ones for some time in the future. And giving a meaningful gift to your loved ones…there’s no better way to start a new year!

At Phelan, Frantz, Ohlig & Wegbreit, LLC, we take our responsibility to provide families with conscientious estate planning very seriously…in the new year and beyond.  Please enjoy the year ahead and contact us if we can be of assistance to you in developing and/or reviewing the appropriate estate plan for your family.

WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR ESTATE PLAN, DIY JUST WON’T DO

The do-it-yourself mentality has become an integral part of many areas that inform our lives. Thanks to the Internet and even YouTube, consumers now have all the tools and how-to’s they need to create anything from simple arts and craft gifts, to more upscale inspirations like DIY fashion, printed merchandise or any number of home remodeling projects. This DIY mentality has even expanded to the potentially intricate, increasingly personal and definitely legal task of estate planning and the execution of your Will. Most often undertaken to save money, even the “simplest” DIY Wills may contain pitfalls that end up costing families large amounts of grief or money.

Seen it all

Mixing online programs like LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer and Quicken WillMaker Plus to lay down the groundwork that will protect and provide for loved ones after you’re gone in the hopes of saving time and money in the here and now can be a recipe for disaster.  Most trust and estate lawyers likely will tell you that choosing these options for estate planning documents may be a real disservice to your heirs.

Estate lawyers should know. They’ve seen it all when it’s come to unraveling the intended bequests of DIY Wills that were erroneously drafted. When a person has passed there’s literally no resource available to clarify his or her intent. Some people will tell you a DIY Will is better than no Will at all. But a bad DIY Will inappropriately and incompletely done does NOT trump no Will status. If you shortchange the process on the front end, there can be significant legal costs incurred after death either due to errors in the execution of the Will or lack of clarity about dispositive wishes.

False sense of security

In fact, DIY estate planning may give benefactors a false sense of security even if you have only modest assets and plan to draft the “simplest of wills”—a term with which legal professionals take issue.  There is no such thing as a “simple will.” First, every individual’s circumstances are unique with particular family complexities that impact to whom and how assets should pass. Second, there are so many assets that pass outside an estate such as insurance policies, 401(k)’s and IRA’s to name a few that there must be careful coordination between probate (the Will) and non-probate or beneficiary assets. It’s imperative that you have a full understanding of what will happen with your assets when you die—which is why a conversation with a lawyer is critical.

With DIY sites, there’s limited, if any, professional guidance. Some sites do provide some attorney assistance, but you don’t get to choose the person with whom you’re working or have any sense of their background with trusts and estate law. For a sensitive subject like the financial protection of your loved ones, the client experience matters and so does interaction with a professional who knows you and understands your family situation.

You don’t know what you don’t know

The lack of appropriate guidance can lead to ignorance, which is a real deficit to DIY planning. Choosing a DIY option for your estate planning is like looking for cures to your ailments on WebMD—most individuals have no real idea what they need when it comes to protecting themselves and their loved ones. For example, every state has unique rules, particularly when it comes to estate/inheritance or “death” taxes. None of this is contemplated in a DIY will. Some sites may not offer the right tools for state-to-state differentiation. Others may offer graded packages and you may inadvertently or for cost reasons choose the wrong one.

Then, too, DIY sites do not lend themselves to the intricacies and/or depth of complex family and financial situations such as blended families, stepchildren and the like.

Plus, a host of other issues can unknowingly arise when upon death, your Will is passed on to the surrogate or probate court. The surrogate court oversees matters of probate, the administration of estates and the process of distributing the decedent’s assets to the proper beneficiaries. To name some of the most common problems that can arise with DIY Wills at this time:

Where’s the Will?

Another wrinkle that occurs with DIY Wills is when the individuals who take on the responsibility of executing their own Wills forget or simply don’t let anyone know where their Will is located.  If the original Will can’t be located, it’s as good as dying without a Will.

It’s also important to remember that your Will is a living, breathing document. This means it must be reviewed regularly and revised with changing life situations like marriage, childbirth, inheritance, etc. Choosing the DIY route to estate planning just may make an individual less aware or inclined to make regular reviews and subsequent revisions.

Covering All the Bases

But when you work with an estate attorney, you have an accountability partner who can help you stay on top of these very important matters—from the sometimes uneasy but serious and important planning process, to choosing the right fiduciaries, to reviewing your Will at least at five-year intervals, down to keeping the original document in safekeeping. Then, when the inevitable time comes for your loved ones to inherit and carry on your legacy, everything will be in order.

When it comes to providing for the precious people in your life, you will surely want nothing less than that.

At Phelan, Frantz & Ohlig, LLC, we take our responsibility to provide families with conscientious estate planning very seriously.  Please contact us if we can be of assistance to you in developing the appropriate estate plan for your family.

 

Love the Second Time Around Counts. So Does A Sound Estate Plan That Protects Your Kids

Love is lovelier the second time around, or so Frank Sinatra crooned. Old Blue Eyes knew what he was talking about, but ask an estate attorney or two and they’ll agree that second loves and the blended families that may result merit special consideration when it comes to estate planning.

According to Pew Research Center, 40 percent of new marriages include at least one person who was previously married. And 20 percent of weddings feature two people who have both been married before. These statistics breed yet another phenomenon. Blended families. These families, in which one or both spouses have children from a prior marriage, are on the rise, and they’re complicated. When it comes to estate planning, blended families and the complex relationships they involve have thrown the traditional family, in which the children are children of both spouses, a curve ball.

Blended families, new estate planning issues

Today’s changing family dynamics from divorce, midlife remarriage, domestic partnerships, etc. have brought additional challenges to estate planning. While there’s no such thing as a “simple” or “traditional” Will, poses unique considerations. In a Will for a traditional family, the issues are pretty clear cut. Most assets are left to the surviving spouse. Upon the death of the surviving spouse, the remaining assets go to the couple’s common children.

But using the same distribution strategy for a blended family may have negative consequences for your kids from a previous marriage. (more…)

One of the Most Important Conversations You’ll Ever Have

It’s never too soon to talk about end-of-life wishes with your family

Let’s face it. It isn’t easy but it’s a conversation we all need to have. It’s that serious conversation about your end-of-life wishes.  It’s uncomfortable enough to talk about money matters and how your assets are to be distributed upon death. But end-of-life conversations go well beyond assets to mortality issues. They’re sad and scary, and uncomfortable, conversations definitely not for the faint of heart.

Families often think they have all the time in the world to do this. But life can turn on a dime. Or the years progress, and no one takes charge of initiating a conversation. Developing a plan now and sharing it within your nuclear family is in everyone’s best interests. When all family members are in good health and anticipating a positive future, the conversation can be held in a safe and calm environment. Once a family is in crisis mode, they are mired in the emotions of sadness and grieving, and it is almost impossible to think straight.

Talking about these issues is a mutual obligation that parents and adult children share. Parents have a responsibility to make their personal wishes clear to avoid missteps in the way care will be administered and, upon death, how assets will be distributed. The point is to avoid the anger, hurt or squabbling that comes when family members do not have a clear understanding of what a parent wants. In turn, grown kids have a responsibility to do the right thing for their parents and provide them with the gift of knowing that their end-of-life wishes will be followed.

Be prepared

The best way to have an important discussion like this is preparedness. Conversations centered around end-of-life wishes must be planned. No one wants to arrive at a family get-together only to discover without warning that the conversation is about mortality. It is often advisable to meet with an estate attorney prior to the conversation to get your wheels turning and understand the issues. Perhaps you might even consider holding the meeting at your estate attorney’s office. Attorneys have knowledge of unique estate issues that may arise and have objectivity in helping make decisions and appointing children to assume various roles. They also have the sensitivity to understand the delicacy of these discussions.

Delicacy and discretion are helpful when initiating the discussion. One way to get things rolling is mentioning a friend who is experiencing a difficult time with helping her adult children understand and execute her wishes in the face of her terminal diagnosis. Or a friend who had the task of serving as executor of his mother’s estate and the tremendous amount of work brought with that task.  You can say these scenarios led you to think about how important it is to have a plan in place.

All family members must be involved in the discussion. The plan that’s developed affects everyone, so sharing the nuts and bolts of it is in everyone’s best interests. Make sure family members who live locally are in the room.  If out-of-town family members cannot attend, a second-best alternative would be to Facetime or Skype them in.

As with all meetings, sending out an agenda-like document helps to further set expectations. This is, after all, a business discussion but one focused on delicate family matters. If there were ever a time to show compassionate leadership, the time is now.

The heavy lifting: Assigning roles

Managing end-of-life issues requires the appointment of several fiduciary and health-related oversight roles, some which take place while you are alive and others after you pass. Each responsibility is aligned with the appropriate document. Assigning the right individual to each of these roles is imperative. Choosing is not a question of playing favorites or being the oldest child. Serious thought must be given to the skill set involved with each responsibility and which of your family members would be best-suited to handle a particular responsibility. There’s also the emotional weight involved with serving in these roles.

The roles and matched documents include the following:

It’s imperative that all these documents are kept in a safe place, possibly in care of your estate attorney, so they are in easy reach when the time comes to access them. What’s more, with most records being digital today, a list of passwords to all your retirement and other accounts should be stored for easy access as well. It is not uncommon for passwords to be kept in a sealed envelope with your attorney.

Living, Breathing Documents

Creating these documents is not a one-time occurrence. As your life and circumstances change, so should your estate plan.  Reviewing these documents every five years is your best bet for assuring that upon a crisis or your death things will be carried out according to your wishes. As difficult as a planning conversation is, you might even consider it an exercise for generational learning and a time for your kids who are now parents themselves to write a will that among other things will appoint a guardian.

Even with these documents in place, the responsibilities that come with executing them can be sudden. Even with preparedness, the events that require them to be put into motion are sad, emotionally charged and life changing. But life is a precious journey and death is a part of it. Discussions like this can bring about gratitude for life and health in the present and reinforce the preciousness of our journey and the important gifts of love, respect and kindness families share.

At Phelan, Frantz & Ohlig, LLC, we take our responsibility in helping a family navigate these conversations very seriously.  Please contact us if we can be of assistance to you and your family in having one of the most important conversations you will ever have.

RECIPE FOR A TRUST

You’ve decided you want to set up a trust but telling your attorney that you need a ‘trust’ is like telling a baker that you need a ‘cake’ – it leads to a cascade of questions: What’s the occasion? What ingredients do you want in the cake? Do you want to share it with lots of people or only a few? How much do you want to spend? Are there any food allergies to consider? In short, just like there are different kinds of cakes for different occasions, there are dozens of different types of trusts for different purposes. To cook up your custom trust, an experienced estate planning attorney will explore all these questions with you.

WHAT’S THE OCCASION?

There are a variety of reasons clients may want a trust:

This is in no means an exhaustive list, but a few examples of the occasions an individual may seek to establish a trust.

WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU WANT IN THE CAKE?

Trusts can own almost any asset, including cash and real estate. Trusts also can be the beneficiary or owner of a life insurance policy or the beneficiary on an IRA or 401K. The implications of a trust owning each of these assets varies, so it is critical to discuss your plans in this regard with an attorney and accountant before making a move. It also is important to discuss the “amount” of ingredients you want to put into the trust. Depending on the type of trust, your ability to manage or access assets put into it can be limited, so it may not make sense to transfer all of your assets into a trust.

DO YOU WANT TO SHARE IT WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE OR ONLY A FEW?

Like a Will, a trust should set forth how the assets held in it will be distributed to beneficiaries upon your death. A trust is even more flexible than a Will, however, in the sense that it also may provide for the provision of income or assets during an individual’s life.

HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO SPEND?

Creating and maintaining the formalities of a trust can be costly. In some cases, a trust may become a tax paying entity, which means that an annual income tax return should be filed. In addition, the individuals responsible for implementing the trust – the trustees – are entitled to a commission based on the value of the assets held by it and any income made by those assets.

ARE THERE ANY FOOD ALLERGIES TO CONSIDER?

In many ways, this question can be the most critical. Trusts frequently are created to protect and grow assets for those who may not be able to manage them on their own. Whether a special needs trust or a trust created for minors, the unique circumstances your beneficiaries must be considered in drafting the terms of your trust.

These are important pieces of the pie (no pun intended) to be considered. The estate planning attorneys at Phelan, Frantz & Peek are experts in the creation of trusts for all occasions and in a variety of flavors. Contact us to make an appointment today to discuss your needs.

 

WHAT’S UP WITH NJ ESTATE TAX?

Recent reports out of Trenton suggest that the evolution of the New Jersey estate tax — thought to be complete in January 2018 with the full repeal of the tax — may face further developments. Revelations that the repeal has resulted in a higher drop in state revenue than anticipated have led to calls for reinstatement of the estate tax in some form. The uncertain future of the New Jersey estate tax adds an additional layer of complexity to the estate planning process.

NJ ESTATE TAX ELIMINATED IN 2018

For many years, the estate tax exemption in New Jersey was relatively low. An estate tax was imposed on individuals with net assets in excess of $675,000 at death. Many residents sought to avoid the hit by establishing domicile in a more tax-friendly state, such as Florida, which had the accompanying result of impacting New Jersey’s income tax collections. In 2016, then-Governor Chris Christie and Republican lawmakers introduced a law to phase-out the estate tax. In 2017, the estate tax exemption was increased to $2 million and in 2018 it was eliminated altogether.

IS IT COMING BACK?

While New Jersey still has an inheritance tax which is imposed when someone other than an immediate family member (parent, spouse, child or grandchild) or charity receives an inheritance, lawmakers knew that the fiscal hit would be significant. News issued recently by the Department of Treasury reveals that the hit has been harder and more precipitous than initially believed, however. Analysts predict that estate and inheritance tax collections for 2018 will decline more than $100 million, in large part because of the 2017 bump in the estate tax exemption and the complete elimination of the tax in 2018.

FLEXIBILITY IN YOUR ESTATE PLAN IS ESSENTIAL

Calls for restoration of the estate tax have been coming fast and furious. Whether it will come back and, if it does, whether it will be restored at the $2 million exemption amount or less, remains to be seen. Regardless, it is critical that individuals and families in the process of updating or creating an estate plan include flexibility in their Will to account for the variety of scenarios that may come to fruition. Consultation with a knowledgeable and thoughtful estate planning attorney with experience in New Jersey’s estate tax is an essential part of this process. The attorneys at Phelan, Frantz & Peek are all mindful of this possibility when we discuss planning with our clients.

What Will Your Legacy Be?

As estate planning attorneys, we often hear, “I don’t need a Will, I don’t have any children to worry about” or “I don’t need a Will, everything will automatically pass to my spouse” from friends and acquaintances. And how wrong they are! In both circumstances, there are many things that everyone should consider and plan for, especially given that death is the one guarantee in life. Many individuals who do not have children and the corresponding feeling of moral obligation to pass all or most of their wealth to them, have the unique freedom and opportunity to think about what kind of broader legacy they may want to leave behind.

A will specifies your wishes

By executing a Will, you can leave specific instructions about where the assets you have worked hard to accumulate over your lifetime will go and appoint the person who will be in charge of making sure your wishes are followed. Maybe you want to leave your estate to charities that are important to you and provide for the work of those institutions in a way you could not while alive? Or maybe you want to provide for friends or extended family members that you love and may be able to use your gift to take advantage of opportunities they might not have otherwise, such as education?

Create Your Legacy With A Foundation

Our firm has been privileged to help many individuals in these situations think about their legacy in these ways. We also have had the honor of helping to implement plans that meet their objectives and, consequently, have profoundly changed the lives of their beneficiaries. As an example, we assisted in the creation of the Watts Foundation which was established by a couple who had no children, but wished to improve the quality of life for many in the community of Mountainside, NJ. The Watts’ established the Foundation to benefit the hometown where they had resided for most of their married life together and the legacy they created will benefit many future generations for years to come. It is such a privilege to be able to assist individuals formulate a plan that creates a legacy larger than anything they could contemplate on their own.

More Ideas for Nonparents

Further discussion regarding opportunities for leaving such a legacy can be found in the following New York Times link:  If you Don’t Have Children, What Do You Leave Behind?

If you or anyone  you know would like to explore such opportunities, contact us via our contact form on this website.

Make Your Will Your New Year’s Resolution

Most of us see the New Year as an opportunity to turn the page on those things left undone from the year before. If you are one of the more than 65% of Americans who do not have a Will, now is the time to get it done and check it off your list.

A Last Will and Testament is a legal document that outlines your wishes regarding the distribution of your assets and property upon your death. If you have minor children, a Will also can dictate who you want to take care of your children if you should pass away unexpectedly and how you want your children’s finances to be managed while they are young.

Whether you have a little or a lot, crafting a Will insures that your personal wishes are implemented upon your death and that the people you want to manage your affairs after you are gone are in charge. Without a Will, a court will be responsible for making all these decisions on your behalf and your assets will be distributed pursuant to a statute enacted by the New Jersey legislature.

 

If you do have a Will, the New Year also is a great time to revisit your estate plan to determine if any changes need to be made. It is a good idea to revisit your Will approximately once every five years and make any necessary updates. Questions to consider include:

Contact the attorneys at Phelan, Frantz & Peek, LLC to discuss the creation or revision of an estate plan that fits your needs. We pride ourselves on providing the level of personalized care, concern, and attention to detail that befits the task at hand by spending time with our clients and getting to know your unique needs and wishes.

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