Kenosha County Legacy Planning Lawyer

Attorney Assisting Families With Asset Protection in Racine and Burlington

Throughout your life, you will want to make the best use of the property and assets you acquire. This means not only determining how to pass your property to your heirs after your death but also planning to meet your own needs during life. Legacy planning is an important part of your comprehensive estate plan, and a skilled attorney can work with you and, if appropriate, your financial advisor to help protect your assets and legacy.

During the estate planning process, Frozena Law LLC can help you understand your best options for protecting your assets for yourself and your family members. We will work with you and, if you would like, your other advisors, to gain a full understanding of your and your family's needs and provide you with guidance in determining the best estate planning tools to use in your individual situation.

Legacy Planning Tools

Depending on the types of assets you own, any concerns you would like to address, your desires for passing these assets to your beneficiaries, and your own needs, you may wish to make use of a variety of tools, including:

• Last will and testament or revocable living trust - These foundational parts of an estate plan can be used to specify how certain assets or property will be distributed among your heirs after you die.
• Discretionary trusts - This type of trust allows assets to be distributed to beneficiaries at the discretion of the trustee based on guidelines provided in the trust. In many cases, these trusts can be used to protect assets from being divided between divorcing spouses or from other creditors of the beneficiary.
• Spendthrift trusts - If you have concerns about a beneficiary's ability to manage money or make wise choices, this type of trust allows you to provide that the beneficiary's interest in the trust cannot be voluntarily or involuntarily transferred, with limited exceptions (e.g. child support). This is another option to help protect the funds in the trust from the beneficiary's creditors.
• Charitable trusts - A charitable remainder trust allows you to make use of your assets while you are still alive and donate any remaining assets to a charity after your death.
• Retirement accounts and investments - By saving money in a retirement plan, you can defer taxes until you begin receiving payments upon retirement, and some of these accounts have a level of asset protection. If you name beneficiaries to these accounts, they will be passed to your heirs after your death without probate. If you have any investment accounts containing stocks or bonds, a transfer on death arrangement can be used to pass these assets to your beneficiaries.
• LLCs - If you own interests in a business, establishing a limited liability company (LLC) will help protect your personal assets from the business's liabilities. An LLC can also be structured so that your ownership interests will be passed to your heirs after your death. Business interests can also be transferred to a trust either before or after the owner's death. An LLC can also be an effective way to pass on and manage family vacation property.

Contact a Pleasant Prairie Legacy Planning Attorney

No two people experience the same journey through life, and this means that you should not settle for a cookie cutter approach to your estate plan. Depending on the assets you own, the resources you will require to meet your own needs, the concerns you would like to address, and your desires for transferring your assets to your heirs, you may need to make use of a combination of estate planning tools. At Frozena Law LLC, we will work with you to determine the best approach and provide you with the guidance you need to help ensure that you leave the legacy you desire. Contact us today at 262-237-8668 to set up a consultation. We assist with estate planning in Kenosha, Racine, Union Grove, Sturtevant, Pleasant Prairie, Bristol, Burlington, and Lake Geneva.