BINKERT GREENE LLP

We guide you through a clear, straightforward process to organize your personal and financial matters, ensuring your assets and loved ones are protected according to your wishes in the event of incapacity or after your passing. Our comprehensive estate plans include the following documents: 

• Trust. A Trust is a legal entity that holds property during a person’s life and provides for management and/or distribution during incapacity and after death. A Trust helps to avoid probate and its associated expense, delay and non-private nature. 

• Pour-over Will. A Pour-over Will names someone you trust as “executor” or “personal representative” to distribute your assets to the trustee of your Trust. It also names someone you trust as “guardian” to care for your minor children and manage their estate until they are adults (age 18).

• Certification of Trust. A Certification is a document that provides key information about a Trust without disclosing the full terms of the Trust. It is commonly used to demonstrate the existence and validity of the Trust when opening bank accounts, transferring property to the Trust, or dealing with financial institutions.

• Assignments of Personal Property. An Assignment transfers ownership of personal assets, such as household items, books, jewelry, and artwork.

• Trust Transfer Deed. The Deed is a legal document that transfers ownership of real property into the Trust.

• Durable Power of Attorney: A DPOA names someone you trust as “agent” or “attorney-in-fact” to manage your finances in case of incapacity.

• Advance Health Care Directive. An AHCD names someone you trust as “agent” to make health care decisions for you in case of incapacity. It also states your end-of-life wishes and other health care instructions.

• HIPAA Compliance. A HIPAA consent allows your “agent” to access your personal medical records when necessary.

  
  

Our international estate planning addresses the complexities of managing assets, legal ties, and/or beneficiaries across multiple countries. It requires navigating international laws, tax treaties, and regulations to ensure your assets are protected and distributed according to your wishes, no matter their location or where your beneficiaries reside.

This type of planning is essential if you:

• Own real property, assets or have beneficiaries abroad.

• Have dual citizenship.

• Reside or plan to retire overseas.

If you’ve been appointed as a Successor Trustee, we can guide you through managing and distributing Trust assets while helping you adhere to the terms of the Trust and fulfill your fiduciary duties.

Trust administration typically begins after the Trust “creator” (also known as the “grantor” or “settlor”) passes away or becomes incapacitated. At that point, it is the responsibility of the Successor Trustee to manage and distribute the assets of the Trust. Oftentimes, a Trust administration includes, but is not limited to, the following steps: 

• Securing and reviewing the original estate planning documents.

• Securing and safeguarding the decedent’s property.

• Notifying beneficiaries and heirs by following specific legal requirements.

• Identifying deadlines and assessing what professional advisors need to be contacted (attorney. tax advisor/CPA, insurance agent, etc.).

• Making sure outstanding invoices and debts are paid (e.g. property tax, credit card bills, etc.).

• Take any necessary steps to avoid property tax reassessments.

• Account to the beneficiaries within the required timeframe.

• File required tax returns.

We also assist beneficiaries by clarifying their rights and ensuring the Trust terms are properly executed.

We assist the executor or personal representative in navigating the court-supervised probate process when someone passes away, whether with or without a will. Probate transfers legal title of property from the estate of the person who has died (the "decedent") to his/her/their beneficiaries. Probate can usually be avoided by establishing and funding a Trust, but not by establishing a Will.

A typical probate of a Will includes, but is not limited to, the following procedures: 

• Prove to the Court that the Will is valid.

• Appoint a legal representative (also known as “executor” or “personal representative”) with authority to act on behalf of the decedent.

• Identify and inventory the decedent's property, and have that property appraised within a certain set timeframe.

• Pay debts and taxes.

• Distribute the remaining property according to the terms of the Will.