What is estate planning?
No matter the stage of life, everyone wants to know that their loved ones will be taken care of and that their hard-earned assets will be protected.
If that describes you, then you came to the right place.
Our goal at Postic & Bates is to help you protect what matters most, ensuring your family’s future and achieving some much-needed peace of mind through a well-crafted estate plan.
Estate planning is a broad, far-reaching subject.
Although there are countless estate planning options, there are a few documents that almost everyone considered when creating their estate plan:
Last Wills and Testaments – Wills say what happens to your “stuff” (your assets) after you die. However, Wills still have to go through probate after your death.
Trusts – Like Wills, Trusts say what happens to your “stuff” after you die. But unlike a Will, a Trust can avoid the probate process entirely.
Durable Powers of Attorney – A Power of Attorney appoints someone (your “Attorney-in-Fact”) to act for you in certain situations, such as making medical or financial decisions. A Power of Attorney is “durable” if it does not expire if you become incompetent.
Advance Directive for Health Care – Often called a “living will,” an Advance Directive lets you state your preference regarding end-of-life decisions such as whether you want to stay connected to life support.
You can learn more about these documents by using the menu on the left-hand side of the page and by exploring our estate planning blog.
What other estate planning options are there?
In addition to the “mainstream” estate planning options explained above, our attorneys provide comprehensive estate planning services by assisting clients with matters such as:
Asset Protection
Business Formation
Estate Tax Planning
Medicaid Planning
Special Needs Planning
Charitable Giving
These matters require specialized expertise that most estate planning attorneys do not have.
Equally dangerous is when people use “Do It Yourself” estate planning programs instead of consulting a qualified estate planning attorney.
In many cases, these “DIY” estate planning documents do not achieve the best result and may even cause more harm than good. In fact, you may end up paying an attorney more to fix your estate planning problems than you “saved” in the first place.
Protect your assets, provide for your family.
Estate planning is not a “one size fits all” proposition. For more information about how you can best prepare for the future, contact the experienced Oklahoma City estate planning attorneys at Postic & Bates for a free, no-obligation consultation appointment.
Additionally, you can download our FREE Estate Planning Guide with 70+ pages of important estate planning information by clicking the button below: