Many people mistakenly believe they don’t need asset protection because they have a will. While a will describes your assets, beneficiaries, and how assets should be distributed, it won’t protect against creditors or the time-consuming and expensive probate administration process. A complete estate plan contains a will but includes other vital documents, like New Hampshire powers of attorney, specialized irrevocable and revocable living trusts, business entities, and tax filings that protect decisions made regarding your assets before and after your death.
Without these documents, the court makes decisions regarding asset distribution or appoints someone to act on your behalf that may not be a trusted individual or a person you feel is appropriate. Once you have a well-developed estate plan, it is also essential to update your assets and beneficiaries on all estate planning documents, including annuities, life insurance, retirement plans, and more.
With Uniquely You, our estate planning lawyers help you build, protect, and pass as much of your wealth as possible to the next generation. Strategies involving living trusts minimize or eliminate taxes. Transferring assets into revocable or irrevocable trusts change the ownership, adjusts asset values, and modifies how rules are applied to tax laws. Trusts can be used for your family, business, charitable causes, and various other estate planning goals. A strategy considers the size of your estate and particular family needs but may include:
- Applying for life insurance policies, annuities, 401Ks, and other qualified retirement plans
- Setting up a business or family entity, such as an LLC
- Creating lifetime revocable living trusts for your spouse and children
- Purchasing long-term care insurance (LTC) or applying for Medicaid and Veterans benefits
- Forming life insurance trusts
Creating an estate plan with estate and income taxes in mind is essential for a seamless strategy.
Contact us about asset protection in New Hampshire and how it fits into the estate planning process.
Dawn DiManna, Esq., has over 15 years of legal experience helping clients in New Hampshire understand estate planning, elder law, asset protection, long-term care, proactive and crisis Medicaid planning, and Veterans planning. She began Uniquely You to help families discover ways to keep loved ones out of court and conflict and avoid financial collapse after a death or disability.
