Consult With a Central Florida Estate Planning Attorney
Comprehensive estate planning typically includes the following legal issues and documents:
- Wills
- Trusts
- Powers of attorney: medical power of attorney and durable power of attorney
- Advance health care directives
- "Living wills"
To answer the unspoken question of "when" estate planning should be addressed, consider what changes your Lake County family has experienced in recent years:
- Moves in or out of state
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Remarriage
- Birth and adoption of children
- Acquisition of real estate or businesses
In fact, any significant change in family relationships and finances merits careful consideration. A will and a medical power of attorney are basic documents that everyone of age should have, as fundamental to a responsible ordering of affairs as other key documents: birth certificate, passport, insurance policies and real estate deeds.
Many people consider death a "far-off eventuality" and thus postpone the assembly of estate planning documents such as wills and trusts. In fact, a cursory glance at a newspaper on any given day reminds us all that any family may experience unexpected deaths at any time through auto accidents and other sudden causes of death.
Indeed, many people come to realize that estate planning is not only the loving thing to do for one's family—it also makes good business sense. Careful estate planning can help families preserve assets and minimize estate taxes when property is transferred from one generation to the next.
A first step when you contact Cauthen, Oldham & Associates, P.A., will be a thoughtful conversation with Tavares lawyer David Cauthen regarding your assets, intended beneficiaries of your estate, your individual concerns and your goals. No one likes to talk about death, but a conversation with attorney Cauthen about estate planning will focus mostly on life: investments, business and assets that are important to each person, couple and family.
