Family People
You love your family. You want to ensure things are as easy as possible for them if and when something happens to you.
You show your love through acts of service. You want to pass on what you have worked so hard for your entire life and do it in a way that feels good and full of ease.
Your wealth is not always measured by the dollars in the bank but by the well-being of the people you love.
You may be single, married, have children, or not. The common denominator is that you truly and deeply care about the people in your life, and you want to make things as easy as possible for them if and when something happens to you.
To read up on the specifics of estate planning based on your situation, check out our detailed service listings here.
Blended Families
Edris Law offers estate planning you can trust. If you have been married multiple times and you have children from a prior marriage, you must engage in estate planning that will keep the people you love out of conflict.
No matter how close or friendly you think your new spouse and your children are, there is simply an unavoidable, inherent conflict between them upon your death. This conflict can be mitigated, and you can ensure that the people you love most — your new spouse and your children — will each be well-taken care of with the most ease possible.
You can even take actions to support their being on the same team as each other in the time of grief.
It does take planning, and we are well-trained and highly skilled in planning for the needs of "blended families," which is the term of art in the legal profession for people in multiple marriages with children from a prior marriage.
So, if you are part of a blended family, contact us for a Family Wealth Planning Session to look together at everything you own and everyone you love and what would happen to all of it when something happens to you. Then, you can get informed, educated, and empowered to make the right planning decisions for the people you love.
Married or Single Without Children
You don’t have children, but you do have a spouse, partner, or other loved ones, and you want to ensure things are as easy for them as possible if and when something happens to you. You want to pass on what you have worked so hard for your entire life and do it in a way that helps your loved ones know and feel your love just when they’ll need it most.
On top of that, and maybe even more importantly, you want to choose who will receive what you’ve worked so hard to create. You also want to ensure that your "chosen family" will be able to care for and love you if you are incapacitated and cannot make healthcare decisions for yourself.
Your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in your bank account but by the well-being of the people you love. You care enough to get your estate planning handled so your loved ones will not get stuck in the court or conflict when you become incapacitated or die.
Life Partners With or Without Children
In so many ways, estate planning is most important for you when you are not married but have a life partner. And, if you have children together, it’s exponentially more important for you to get your estate planning handled right. The law does not protect your love if you are not married, period.
You have to take action yourself to ensure you will have access to your loved one’s hospital bedside and that your unmarried loved one will have access to you if you are hospitalized.
If you do not take action, it’s possible that the person you love most in the world could be blocked from being with you in an accident. They will not be allowed to make health care decisions for you or deciding what you are nourished with or who gets to see you. And, that’s just your healthcare.
Without the protection of estate planning, the person you love most could be thrown out of your house, ejected from your business, or locked out of your finances. If you have children together, they could even be taken out of your partner’s care.
Estate planning when you are unmarried isn’t optional. It’s truly a matter of life and death for the people you love most.
Single Parents
You have the primary responsibility for ensuring the well-being and care of your children. If something happens to you while they are minors, you want to ensure you’ve decided who cares for them and how.
In an ideal scenario, your child’s other parent would be suitable to take custody of your child if you cannot be there. But in many cases, that’s not possible or desired. And, even if it is, you may want the financial resources you are leaving behind cared for by someone other than your former spouse or partner.
No matter the scenario, as a single parent, whether your child’s other parent is in the picture or not, you need to take the steps necessary to document who you would want to raise your child legally and how you would want your child raised. And also how you want your assets handled for your child in case anything happens to you.
Married With Children
When you are married with children, estate planning is usually pretty straightforward. You want your spouse making decisions for you if you are incapacitated, and you want to make sure your assets go to your spouse when you die and then to your children after your spouse is gone.
Seems simple, right? If only it were, our probate courts wouldn’t be clogged with the impact of the complexity of money and family. And, there wouldn’t be $58 Billion (with a B) of assets in the State Departments of Unclaimed Property across the United States.
Many questions need to be answered to ensure your family stays out of the court and out of conflict in the event of your incapacity or death.
And, some tactical specifics that need to happen to ensure your assets don’t end up lost to the State Department of Unclaimed Property because your family overlooks something when you can’t be there to guide them.
And, if you are in a second (or third or more) marriage situation with children from a prior marriage (we call this a “blended family”), it’s an almost guarantee the people you love will end up in conflict if you don’t plan.
Your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in your bank account but by the well-being of the people you love. You care enough to get your estate planning handled so your family will stay out of court and out of conflict, no matter what.
We know you are busy and promise to make the process as simple and easy for you as possible.
You may also call our office at (404) 566-5700 to schedule an appointment.