Preserving Your Wealth and Planning for Your Future

“Roger” at John Rogers Burk, A Law Corporation, is a knowledgeable estate planning attorney focused on creating quality estate plans for residents of Roseville, California. His firm strives to personalize your estate plan to fit your needs, while addressing several components that can help you and your loved ones better prepare for the future. These components include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, nursing home planning, and health care directives. In addition to these fundamental aspects of estate planning, he also has a high level of experience in post-mortem estate planning, which includes probate and trust administration.

Probate

The legal process of probate can place a heavy burden on the loved ones of an individual who has passed on. If appointed as an executor, your executor duties involve managing the estate of the deceased, paying off final debts, filing taxes, and having the probate court confirm the contents of the deceased individual’s estate plan. The probate process can be burdensome for anyone, but is especially challenging when the grieving process is added on top of these new responsibilities. As a Roseville, California probate estate planning attorney, Roger strives to assist you in performing your executor duties in the simplest and quickest manner possible. Extensive experience with probate enables this estate planning attorney to satisfy legal requirements, avoid disputes within the family, and distribute assets according to the guidelines set forth in the estate plan of the deceased.

Trust Administration

You may not have to endure probate when approaching the trust administration process, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be easy. Other than probate, your responsibilities for trust administration involve the same duties as the executor of a will. These responsibilities include paying off debts, filing taxes, conducting an inventory of the remaining estate, notifying beneficiaries, and distributing the remaining estate according to the terms of the trust. To complete this process with the utmost efficacy, as a Roseville, California trust administration estate planning attorney,he can inform you of legal logistics involved, prepare the required documents, and help you contact the necessary officials to complete each of your responsibilities successfully.

Health Care Directives

As a Roseville, California estate planning attorney, Roger believes that you should be in charge of your future health care decisions despite an inability to make those decisions at the time they are called for. For this reason, we encourage all of our clients to establish health care directives in their estate plan to ensure that action is taken according to your preferences. It can be difficult to know where to begin when organizing health care directives, but with the help of an experienced estate planning lawyer, you can ensure that your needs will be met with all major medical decisions pertaining to your future care.

Powers of Attorney

In the event that you are no longer able to make decisions for your health care, establishing power of attorney in your estate plan would grant a loved one whom you trust the authority to make these tough decisions for you. Sometimes your wishes can be honored by establishing health care directives, but medical situations can often be more complex than we are able to predict. This Roseville, California estate planning lawyer can help you establish a power of attorney to prepare for complex medical decisions, which can then give you peace of mind in knowing that someone you love will honor your preferences.

Wills and Living Trusts

To ensure the financial security of your loved ones, a will or living trust must be included in the estate plan to ensure distribution of your estate according to your desires. Although the documents are fairly similar, they have distinct differences that may or may not apply to your unique needs. One of these differences is that estate distribution with a will involves probate and trust administration does not. This could potentially be a problem if conflict exists within the family and if you would prefer to keep the estate distribution process private. As a professional Roseville, California estate planning attorney, Roger will listen carefully to your unique situation and advise you on the appropriate document to fit your needs.