Blog
Jan
4 Key Benefits Of Having Your Estate Attorney Set Up A Trust
Planning your relative’s estate can be a difficult and emotional topic.
This difficulty, along with the amount of legal understanding involved make it necessary for you to hire an estate attorney.
When you contact an estate attorney, make sure to have them put together a trust. Forming a trust is one of the best ways to handle an estate, and estate lawyers are the most qualified to put them together.
If you’re on the fence about this and want to learn why you should have an attorney set up a trust, start with these four points below.
Your Estate Attorney Can Help You to (Legally) Avoid Taxes
One of the foundational principles of wealth is minimizing taxes whenever you can.
This remains every bit as true when dealing with handling an estate. You’ll want to avoid heavy estate taxation when getting an inheritance so that you can use the money however you need.
That’s where an estate attorney comes into play.
These lawyers will help you to shield the estate from taxes. They will first and foremost take an all-encompassing look at the estate and then determine how much tax liability you owe.
From here, they’ll work diligently to reduce the tax bill altogether.
Helps Prevent Litigation
While going through the estate process is also matched with grieving, it’s important to know that it’s not uncommon to get sued during this time.
People might contest the delegation of a will, which leaves you open to months or years of more litigation.
When you have an estate attorney put together a trust for you, the likelihood of having it contested is dramatically reduced.
Hashing out the legal matters on the front end in the form of a trust makes the important details ironclad and much harder to contest.
You Will Get Your Inheritance Faster
The last thing you would want is to have your inheritance tied up as the details are hashed out.
When you have a lawyer a trust, the inheritance process is streamlined, which is good for you and everyone with a claim to the estate.
This is especially important if you plan to invest your inheritance or otherwise use it.
For instance, many people use their inheritance to pay off student debt, open their own company, invest in stocks and other investments or become a homeowner for the first time.
Your lawyer will also be able to advise you on these matters of investment and the implications that come with each option. They can also point you toward financial experts in their network that can be helpful.
These Documents Are Of Life Changing Importance
Because these legal matters literally change the course of lives, it doesn’t make sense to go about them alone.
Having an attorney on your side that handles estate trusts lessens the burden tremendously. This is why estate attorneys like Audrey Rhodes, of Rhodes Law Firm, PC, work diligently to create these trusts.
If you’re interested in a trust and don’t know where to start, get in touch with us today.
Dec
Around the Web: More Than Just Your Will
Mass Media 0 comments Blog, News
You’ve created your will, and everything is in place. That’s great; you are ahead of the game more than you may realize. However, what if your will isn’t the only document you need to ensure your end-of-life wishes?
Documents to Consider
This article from USA Today suggests that there are other documents you may need to consider having to make any other areas are covered that lead up to what is, essentially, inevitable. Amy Florian, chief executive of Corgenius, provides readers with additional documents to have on hand:
- A living will
- POLST, which stands for “physician orders for life sustaining treatment”
- Having a power of attorney for healthcare/healthcare proxy
- Appoint a durable power of attorney
- DNR/DNI orders
- Diminishing capacity letters
- Organ donor designation
- Life insurance
- A personal property memorandum
- A digital assets memorandum
- A collection of relevant information
To take the burden off the family, Florian recommends to have the necessary documents in one place.
For more information on how to get started, contact us today!
Nov
Like most people, you probably have two main lists: Wants vs. Needs. You have your bills, weekly trips to the grocery store, car maintenance appointments, and so forth. However, you also have your eye set on a new boat, or a more luxurious car with all the bells and whistles even though your current vehicle is in perfect condition. Even now, don’t you think we have a tendency to put those wants before needs? But what if you had a lot more money?
Where to Start With Your Newly Acquired Inheritance
Let’s say you’ve recently received an inheritance, and you’re not exactly sure how to invest that money wisely. With the lists of things you want and need to pay for, you might find yourself in a tricky spot on what to put your money towards first. You don’t want to blow through the money that’s been left especially for you, right?
CNN Money released an article this month giving tips about (especially those who have or will be receiving an inheritance) how to prioritize the things that honestly should be paid first.
- Pay off student debt faster
- Use the money for a down payment on a house
- Open a business
- Save more for retirement
- Invest for long-term goals
Oct
Why Choose Rhodes Law Firm?
Mass Media 0 comments Blog, News
Wouldn’t you rather have an attorney with exceptional credentials and reputation handle some of your life’s most important documents? We would like to believe so. Here is great news for those on the search: Mr. Audrey C. Rhodes, Jr. is the highest rated estate planning attorney in the Augusta, Georgia area!
Education and Experience
After receiving his Bachelor of the Arts from Augusta College (now Augusta University) in 1974, he went on to study law at the University of Georgia and New York University. As you may know, he and his son Daniel currently practice law in both Georgia (office in Martinez) and South Carolina (office in Aiken).
We recommend you choose the right attorney to handle your estate planning, wills, living trusts, and the like. That’s why you should choose Rhodes Law Firm.
Sep
RLF at the Life After 50 Expo
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On Tuesday, September 26, 2017, Rhodes Law Firm had the pleasure of attending the Life After 50 Expo held at the Legends Club in Augusta. The Expo is a compilation of services, tips, and fun for how to enjoy the second half of your life! There were vendors and speakers there covering topics from health to travel to finances and so forth.
At the Expo
This event was a very exciting opportunity for the firm! We had the chance to meet so many great people, and are beyond excited to help them with their estate planning and other needs. We’ve included photos of Daniel, Kayla and our booth at the event below!
When you’re ready to start planning for life after 50 (and even before!), contact us and we’ll get you started!
Aug
Newborns would save $2.2 million for retirement with this idea
m3admin 0 comments Blog, Uncategorized
It’s no doubt that Social Security will face changes over the next several years, and no exactly for the best. There’s just no avoiding it. However, there are still ways to set your children for success when they reach their time of retirement.
This article explains why setting up a Child IRA now would put that child in a better position. It is said by Chris Carosa, president of Stanton Asset Management, that putting $1,000 in an IRA for your child each year until the child is 19 can grow to $2.2 million by the child’s 70th birthday.
Readers, we invite you to post your ideas and tips on this topic! What are some other ways that can set your child/grandchild up for retirement success?
Jul
Let Your Business Be Our Business
Mass Media 0 comments Blog
At Rhodes Law Firm, we’re especially known for our heavy focus on Estate Planning, Elder Law, Long Term Planning, and those alike. But with many of our clients, their business is also a major component in putting together the rest of their planning.
Let your bank, financial adviser, or brokerage firm help you with the financial planning aspects of your estate. You need a qualified estate planning lawyer to draft the legal documents that create an estate plan for you. A qualified attorney, like those at Rhodes Law Firm, will work with your financial adviser and accountant to create the best plan for you!
Here’s a quick list (but not limited to) of how we can represent your business:
• Startup assistance
• Buy/sell agreements
• Contract review
• Transition planning
• Purchase and sale of business
Jul
Thankfully, Millennials are beginning to catch on to the importance of starting a retirement fund as soon as possible. But if you are reaching retirement soon, you may feel obligated to make sure that your surrounding young co-workers are up-to-speed on this topic.
There are several experiences and tips to share in order to make it seem a bit more realistic than just the idea of planning for retirement; and there certainly various ways to approach this subject instead of coming across as “that codger in the office everyone avoids…” as this article puts it.
Be the bearer of helpful tips and words of wisdom to our younger generations!
Jun
Taking care of your estate plan early on is a great decision, without a doubt. There’s really no such thing as starting early with this. However, sometimes in life we think we’ve got our “ducks in a row” and somehow something goes wrong.
In this article, you’ll find great ways to make sure that the above doesn’t happen to you and your estate plan, by essentially making it bulletproof:
- Have a pre-paid, pre-planned funeral
- Set up a family committee to manage your revocable trust
- Have different lawyers develop a plan for you and your spouse
- Don’t underestimate your life expectancy
- Match your lifestyle to your income in retirement
There are always nooks and crannies that many people forget about, or not even think about at all! Click here to read further, and to make sure it’s unstoppable!
Jun
You’ve already designated amongst your children and siblings who receives your assets, but are having difficulty with what to leave your grandchildren. There are several ways to gift your assets to your grandchildren while making sure there are no misuse of funds. You wouldn’t want to leave them “x” amount of money for higher education and it be used for something else, right?
Here are some of those ways to make sure your grandchildren get the most out of your gift(s):
• Whether the grandchild attends a private school, or planning to attend college in the future, you can set up a plan to pay that school directly.
• If there are any medical expenses for the grandchild, you can set up those payments similarly to educational costs. Just be sure to pay the medical provider directly.
• You can set up an IRA or savings bond.
• Transfer money into a trust.
Your overall goal is to ensure that the money/assets you leave behind will be properly used and essentially not wasted. The perks for you (besides knowing your grandchildren will benefit from it) are that this gift-giving can decrease your estate size and tax. There also may be no gift tax!
To further learn how to get started and what the best route is for your gifting of assets, contact us today!