Planning Ahead

In a comprehensive estate plan, wills and trusts are often used in combination to distribute the assets of the estate. Wills can ensure that your property is distributed to people in accordance with your wishes, rather than according to the default laws of New Jersey.

Trusts can provide you with a stream of income while ensuring that you are eligible for Medicaid assistance in the later years of life. This is particularly relevant if you might spend time in a nursing home, which can quickly drain all of your assets if you do not plan in advance. Trusts can also be used to minimize your estate taxes, so that your assets go to those you love rather than the government.

Many people try to avoid planning for the future. It may initially feel uncomfortable thinking about what may happen to your family’s well-being after you pass away, but planning for your future can be among the best ways to protect your family. Estate planning should never be avoided because it helps ensure that the well-being of your precious loved ones is maintained long after you are unable to provide for them.

The Sherman Law Offices can assist with guardianships of family members suffering from dementia or other physical, cognitive, or psychiatric disability such that they are unable to properly and capably attend to their own affairs or make responsible decisions on their own behalf.

Investing in your future today by making the appropriate decisions ahead of time can minimize the potential effects of a poorly planned probate or estate administration.  An effective estate plan includes instruments that keep pace with the clients’ needs/wishes and which also reflect current law. At Sherman Law Offices, we provide estate planning and elder law services designed to protect individuals’ assets, as well as plan for certain life events. While most people recognize that they need a Last Will and Testament, it is common to put off drafting that vital document and overlook other essential estate planning steps. Whether you have recently had a child, gone through a major life change (such as divorce or retirement) or as you age and/or accumulate assets you would like to make sure that your loved ones are protected from undue tax consequences upon your death or disability, we can help you devise a plan and draft documents that will preserve and protect your home and savings from significant depletion and/or taxation in the future. Drafting your Will is only the beginning of the services we can provide. You can count on us to honestly assess your needs without pushing complex, costly tools that go beyond those needs.

Our firm can help you with such estate planning needs as:

• Wills
• Trusts
• Powers of attorney
• Living wills (advanced medical directives)
• Long-term care planning – including Medicaid planning and eligibility
• Small business succession planning

There is no time like the present to prepare for the future. When you need skilled legal representation for estate planning or elder law matters, come to Sherman Law Offices for our assistance.  Contact us today at 856-769-5711.