Practice Areas
Estate Planning • Real Estate • Probate
Probate
Probate is the court-supervised administration of the assets of a deceased person. When someone does not have a trust in place, or if not all of the person’s assets were successfully placed in a trust, a probate may be necessary. Depending on the size of the estate, there are several different methods that can be used to properly distribute the estate. Call or email today to see if we can help you with your probate matter.
Estate Planning
Estate Planning can help your family plan for the future. With a series of tools, you can decide how you, your family, and your assets are treated upon your death or incapacity. Proper planning can save you and your loved ones significant emotional and financial harm. Call or email today to see if we can help you set up an estate plan.
Trusts
Trusts are a great tool that allow you to plan how your assets are treated when you are no longer able to be, or choose to not to be, in control of them. Trusts can help you provide educational funds to heirs who may not be financially responsible yet, or set up a “special needs” trust to help take care of a family member who is receiving government assistance and would lose their benefits if they were to inherit from you. One of the benefits of forming a trust is that it can help a family avoid probate. The costs and fees of probate can be a significant burden on your loved ones. Our standard estate planning package includes a trust. Call or email today to see if we can help with your trust needs.
Wills
Wills are another estate planning tool. A will is often used in conjunction with a trust, or alone. Wills can help designate a guardian for your minor children if you were to become unavailable to care for them. Wills can also designate how certain assets are distributed. If you have a trust, a will can have a provision that places all leftover assets into that trust, even if you did not transfer them while you were able to. Our standard estate planning package includes a will. Call or email today to see if we can help you with your will needs.
Power of Attorney
A power of attorney document can be an extremely useful tool. You can appoint someone to manage your financial affairs while you are unable to. Having this document in place can prevent your loved ones from incurring significant fees and costs associated with obtaining court permission to manage your affairs. Our standard estate planning package includes a power of attorney.
Advance Health Care Directive
An advance health care directive is another powerful tool to plan for your future. This document allows you to decide how you will be medically treated when you are unable to make the decisions for yourself, and who will be able to make crucial decisions on your behalf. Our standard estate planning package includes an advance health care directive.
Real Estate
Managing, purchasing, owning, and selling real estate can become quite complex. Our firm takes pride in guiding our clients through the legal issues they encounter. The judicial system offers tools to help those facing real estate issues to seek relief. Because of title issues, a “cloud” may appear on title that prevents a piece of property from going through escrow. Other issues may arise when multiple owners of a property do not agree on whether or not it should be sold. If you are facing these issues or other real estate problems, call us to see if we can help you.
Business Formation
Sometimes it is in the best interest of business owners to form an LLC or a Corporation. Oftentimes, these business entities, as well as partnerships, need to have a business agreement that binds all parties. If you have questions about this, call or email us for assistance.
Our Team
Smith & Johnson Law, P.C.A. is a father/daughter team.
Andrew D. Smith and Grace S. Johnson enjoy working together to help individuals and families at all stages of life.
Andrew D. Smith
