Practice Areas
Estate Planning
Basic Estate Planning
The most common reason for creating a living trust is the desire to ensure that your heirs will be provided for physically, emotionally and financially. A
well-drafted estate plan will ensure that your estate passes to whom you want and when you want, will be administered in the manner you have chosen, and at the least cost.
Advanced Estate Planning
Many estates require more than a basic will or living trust. Depending upon your circumstances and desires, there are options available to help enhance and maintain
your estate and maximize its value for you and your family.
Elder Law and Medicaid Planning
For a person of average income, the diagnosis of Alzheimer's or another disability can deplete all life savings in a matter of months. The family is forced to spend
down all of their assets to meet Medicaid's strict resource and income requirements. By taking advantage of the many options available to them, families and individuals can take action to
protect their home and their life savings for themselves, their spouses and their heirs.
Longterm Care Planning
By the year 2020, an estimated 20 million Americans will need long term care. While long-term care is most common for older people, it is also needed by young or
middle-aged persons who have been in an accident or suffer a debilitating illness. You may never need nursing home care, but the longer you live, the greater the chance you will need some form
of long-term care.
Trust Administration
The passing of a loved one is an incredibly trying time. However, it is necessary to take the time to properly administer the decedent's affairs. It is important to
remember that there is a definite process to follow and that there are resources to assist you.
Probate
If probate becomes necessary, the process can be less burdensome for a well-prepared individual. Engaging a qualified estate planning attorney with experience in
probate issues will enable you to take pre-emptive steps to minimize taxes and legal wrangling for your personal representative and family.
Asset Protection
Reducing risk and promoting peace of mind is accomplished through family limited partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations and living trusts. Families
and individuals can protect their assets from creditors and significantly reduce taxes upon the transfer of assets.
Wealth Preservation
Lawsuits, estate contests, taxes, divorce, mismanagement, and loss of control can all have a dramatic impact upon your estate. Properly structured entities and
provisions in your estate plan can insulate you from these risks.
Charitable Giving
Americans are among the most generous givers. The availability of tax breaks is a significant motivator. The charitable remainder trust combines current charitable
income tax deductions and future estate tax deductions with the opportunity to avoid capital gains and provide a source of increased income.
Special Needs
Many families may think they have a plan in place that will provide for their loved ones with a disability, but if that plan does not include a special needs trust,
it may not provide the protection they need. A good estate plan has provisions for a special needs trust if it becomes necessary.
Retirement Planning
The value of a retirement plan has greatly increased during the last two decades. The tax deferred growth available with an IRA, 401 k, 403b or other retirement
assets, offers a tremendous financial benefit. However, these assets must be carefully coordinated with your overall estate plan. Proper planning enables retirement account owners to maximize
benefits to heirs and maintain control of future distributions using a "qualified" trust under code section 401(a) (9).
Business Planning
American entrepreneurs have discovered that wise business planning is essential to their success today and their financial security tomorrow. There are several
types of business entities available. When developing a strategy to maximize your success, it is essential to create the right type of entity that will allow you to reach your business goals
and objectives.
Business Exit and Succession Planning
A successful business plan includes provisions for continuity. Business owners need to be aware of the consequences of failing to properly plan for the transition
of the ownership from the senior generation to either third-parties or to junior generations. Business succession includes employing strategies now to maximize the value of your own business
when you are ready to leave it. Ball & Stuart uses a seven-step approach to systematically integrate techniques such as confidentiality agreements, employee incentive plans, deferred
compensation plans, stock options, phantom stock options, and buy-sell agreements designed to protect your business and allow you to leave it in style.
|
