Trust Plan

The Trust Plan provides a more detailed and proactive estate planning option for those seeking to avoid probate and ensure a smoother transition of assets. It includes the creation of a Living Trust, which allows your assets to pass directly to your beneficiaries without the need for probate, offering more privacy and control. Please note that additional time for education, questions, or revisions will incur separate fees. 

Included Documents and Services:

• Durable Power of Attorney: Allows someone you trust (your agent) to manage your non-medical affairs if you are unable to do so. This can include tasks like managing real estate, handling financial transactions, and signing tax returns.
• Medical Power of Attorney: Authorizes someone you trust (your agent) to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so. Your agent will have the authority to decide on treatments, including when to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining interventions.
• HIPAA Release: Allows designated individuals to access your medical information, as protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This document is especially important for those named as your Medical Power of Attorney agent, enabling them to make informed decisions about your care.
• Directive to Physicians: Also known as a Living Will, this document allows you to outline your preferences for medical treatment in situations where you cannot make decisions for yourself. You can specify conditions under which you do not want life-sustaining treatment and detail particular treatments you wish to avoid.
• Declaration of Guardians in Advance of Need: Allows you to choose who will serve as your guardian if you ever require one. You can also designate individuals who should not serve as your guardian, providing peace of mind that your wishes will be respected.
• Pour-Over Will: A Pour-Over Will is a type of will specifically designed to work alongside a Living Trust. It ensures that any assets not already placed into your Living Trust during your lifetime will be “poured over” into the trust upon your death. This means that any assets you may have inadvertently left out of your trust—such as newly acquired property or personal items—will still be governed by the instructions and distribution plan you established in your trust.

While a Living Trust allows you to transfer assets directly to beneficiaries without going through probate, the Pour-Over Will acts as a safety net to catch any assets that weren’t properly transferred into the trust before your passing. These assets will still go through the probate process, but once the probate process is complete, they will be transferred into the trust for distribution according to the trust’s terms.

A Pour-Over Will can also serve another important role: it allows you to state who your minor children will live with, something a Living Trust does not do. This makes it a valuable component of a complete estate plan, ensuring that your wishes regarding your children’s living arrangements are respected.

• Document Signing Services: Our Document Signing Services ensure that your estate planning documents are properly signed, witnessed, and notarized in accordance with Texas legal requirements. We provide a professional environment where every detail is handled with precision, ensuring the legality of your documents. This service includes all necessary notaries and witnesses, giving you peace of mind that everything is in order. Upon completion, you will receive both physical originals and digital copies of all your signed documents for your records.
• Written Legal Education: Supplementary materials to help you understand the documents provided.
• Living Trust: A Living Trust is a legal document that allows you to manage your assets during your lifetime and ensures a smooth transition of those assets to your chosen beneficiaries upon your death, without the need for probate. By creating a Living Trust, you become the “grantor” of the trust, and you can serve as the initial trustee, retaining full control over your assets while you are alive and able. You can add or remove assets from the trust, make changes to its terms, or even dissolve it entirely if your needs change.

Upon your passing, the successor trustee you have named will manage and distribute the assets held in the trust according to your instructions, without needing to go through the public and time-consuming probate process. This can result in significant savings in time and money for your beneficiaries, as well as maintaining privacy regarding the nature and value of your assets.

A Living Trust also provides benefits if you become incapacitated during your lifetime. Your successor trustee can step in to manage the trust assets on your behalf, avoiding the need for a court-appointed guardianship and ensuring that your affairs are handled according to your instructions.

With a properly funded Living Trust, you can ensure that your assets are distributed exactly as you wish, providing for your loved ones, supporting charitable causes, or protecting a family business. This flexibility and control make a Living Trust an excellent tool for estate planning, allowing you to adapt your plan as life circumstances change.

• Trust Funding Education Memo: Written instructions that guide you through the process of transferring assets into your Living Trust. 
• Memorandum of Personal Property: A written document that allows you to specify the distribution of personal items, such as family heirlooms, collections, or sentimental belongings, that may not be covered in the Trust or Will.
• One Texas Deed Transfer: Includes the drafting and recording of a deed for one Texas property, simplifying the process of transferring real estate into your trust. Transferring assets to your trust is essential to ensure they are managed according to your trust’s instructions and that your property benefits from the protections a trust provides. If you have additional properties that need to be transferred into the trust, our firm can draft and record those deeds as well, with a separate fee for each additional deed.