If you are ready to prepare a comprehensive estate plan, or if you need updates or changes to an existing will, trust, power of attorney, or advance health care directive, Harrison & Johnston will work closely with you to craft strategies and documents best suited to addressing your concerns and accomplishing your goals.
We understand that thinking and talking about estate planning can be difficult. It involves raising uncomfortable subjects and having hard conversations. But that does not mean that the process has to be somber and depressing. In fact, developing and implementing a comprehensive estate plan can be a genuinely positive experience. When you work with us on your estate plan, it is our goal that you emerge with a sense of peace and the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you have done something truly wonderful for yourself and your family.
A Personal Experience For Personally Tailored Estate Plans
Once you decide you are ready to start preparing a will, trust, power of attorney, or advance health care directive, or if you need to update existing documents, we welcome the opportunity to meet with you. You will quickly discover that at Harrison & Johnston, we see ourselves as partners in your estate planning journey.
Our estate planning lawyers will take the time to learn about you and your family, your hopes and worries, and your wishes and goals. We take pride in helping out neighbors and friends throughout the Shenandoah Valley who expect and deserve personal attention, accessibility, and responsiveness, especially on matters as consequential and sensitive as estate planning.
Always focusing our efforts on each client’s specific circumstances and unique goals, we design, draft, and implement comprehensive estate planning strategies for individuals and families with estates of all sizes and complexity. Remember, the documents we prepare are only tools; our attorneys have the experience to use them for your family’s maximum benefit.
Comprehensive, Affordable, and Personally Tailored Estate Plans
Complex portfolios of assets, shifting needs and priorities, and ever-changing laws make comprehensive estate planning and wealth preservation strategies invaluable. However, we see that individuals with modest assets—really thebulk of our clients—reap significant benefits from having a well-crafted estate plan in place.
A well-crafted estate plan, including a will and trust:
- Protects your wealth from creditors and minimizes tax liabilities.
- Provides clear guidance as to how you want your assets to be distributed upon your death so you can minimize court involvement and reduce the chances of discord, confusion, and conflicts among family members after you’re gone.
- Ensures that your children, whether minor, adult, or those with special needs, have the care and resources they need in the years ahead.
- Helps you qualify for Medicaid benefits that can pay for a nursing home, assisted living facility, or long-term care without depleting your assets.
- Protects your business and minimizes disruptions when you retire or pass away.
- Gives your loved ones and your doctors clarity and direction about how to handle decisions about your healthcare and financial affairs if you become incapacitated and are unable to make such decisions for yourself.
We recognize that life’s inevitable changes in circumstances, priorities, or goals can mean that an estate plan that was once well-suited to your needs may no longer be so. We regularly meet with our clients to review their existing documents to ensure that they still comport with their objectives and make any needed updates or modifications if they don’t. For our clients who require plans that include trusts of all sorts, we offer an annual maintenance plan to control the costs of keeping up with ongoing changes to your circumstances and the law.
Powers of Attorney and Advance Health Care Directives
All of us face the possibility that a time may come when, due to age, illness, or an unexpected tragedy, we can no longer handle our own affairs or express our wishes about our medical treatment.
No one wants to put their loved ones in the difficult position of having to make such important choices based on guesses as to what the person would have desired. By preparing a power of attorney and advance health care directive, you can provide your family with clarity about what you want in the event you become incapacitated and are unable to make such decisions or express them yourself.
