Estate Planning

When it comes to sorting facts from fiction in estate planning, we provide leadership.
We help our clients and professionals in the field create individual solutions that work.

​​Estate planning is essential not just for the wealthy. Families of all incomes and even single people need to plan for the future. Estate planning involves the identification of all assets under one’s ownership and the formation of a plan to protect loved ones and preserve assets. Some of the advantages of creating an estate plan include:

• The security of knowing that your property will be distributed to those you care about most
• Ensuring that your wishes for guardianship of your minor children are known and honored.
• Probate avoidance. If an individual dies with Virginia assets totaling over $50,000, his or her estate may have to go through probate, a lengthy and costly court process that can be easily avoided by planning ahead of time. Further, your assets would become public record should probate be necessary.
• Wealth preservation. If you are a high net worth individual, state and federal laws provide a number of options to help you reduce or eliminate the potential to be assessed estate taxes.

After an initial meeting where Attorney Maxwell meets clients and learns about their family and goals, he tailors an estate plan to meet clients’ unique needs. Some of the more common legal instruments Attorney Maxwell prepares include:

• Wills
• Revocable Living Trusts
• Advance Medical Directives (Healthcare Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, HIPAA Releases)
• Durable Powers of Attorney
• Trust Transfer Deeds