Estate Planning Attorney | Poche Estate Planning Law Firm

Legal Estate Planning is more important than most people realize. While estate planning law may seem like something only the wealthy need to worry about, in reality, it should be a concern for everyone. Without proper planning, you leave the state to decide what happens after you die. Letting the state make the decisions eliminates your ability to have your final wishes carried out, and is sure to be an unpleasant experience for your family.

At Poché Estate Planning Law Firm, we provide legal estate planning services and wealth preservation resources for people from all walks of life. Our basic estate planning tools like various kinds of Trust, Wills, Durable Powers of Attorney and Living Will Declarations can help you ensure that your instructions are carried out as they should be should you become incapacitated or pass away. No matter how simple or how complex your estate planning needs, we can help.

Trusts

When you’ve accumulated assets that you want to pass on to your heirs, a Trust can protect you in a variety of ways. With a proper Trust(s) in place, you can keep your decisions from prying eyes and you can keep it out of probate, which can be costly.

Trusts are used by many, many people because they are an excellent way to exercise increased control over your estate. You have a number of options when it comes to Trusts, including Charitable Trusts, Medicaid Irrevocable Trusts, Revocable Living Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, Crummey Trusts, Testamentary Trusts, Educational Trusts, Grandchildren Trusts and many others!. Poché Estate Planning Law Firm can help you understand your options and choose what is best for you and your loved ones.

Wills

A Will is an inexpensive way to ensure that everyone knows your instructions and follows them should you die. Although it can be uncomfortable for some people to discuss such issues, in reality it does not need to be unpleasant – or something you wait until the very end for. People pass away suddenly, making a Will a smart planning decision that guarantees the transfer of your assets. Your loved ones will have a much easier time knowing what to do when you put it in a legally binding document.

Power of Attorney

Another possibility everyone faces is becoming incapacitated due to illness or accident. Should this happen, you want to know that someone responsible is looking after things for you. Assigning Power of Attorney to someone you trust will allow the designated individual to move forward with your plans and to keep your estate from entering interdiction court. Expensive and time consuming, interdiction court is worth avoiding if at all possible.

Living Will Declarations

If you are in a situation where you are terminally ill or involved in some other medical emergency where you are not expected to survive as certified in writing by two (2) attending physicians, we can help you draft a document that ensures your wishes are carried out. Because medical providers can sometimes be held liable for what happens in these situations, a document like this can be useful because it demonstrates that the provider is fulfilling your wishes. You remove their liability, freeing them to act as you instructed them to. It also alleviates emotional and financial burdens on your loved ones if you are ever in this profound condition.

Will — Estate Plan

If you own anything, and you care about preserving your assets during your lifetime and controlling what happens to your property after your passing, then you need estate planning. The cornerstone of a Will-Based Estate Plan is your Last Will and Testament. A Will-Based Estate Plan is the traditional method used by Louisiana residents to gain peace of mind for their families and relieve the stresses associated with death, illness, and incapacity because it helps you, among other things, to: provide for a simple distribution of your estate after you die to your stated heirs; appoint an independent executor and grant them the authority to settle your estate quickly and amicably through the Louisiana Court-Supervised Succession process; avoid or minimize unnecessary taxes for you and your heirs; allow your surviving spouse to retain control over the marital assets; avoid family conflict; avoid a courtsupervised guardianship/interdiction proceeding if you become incapacitated; provide clarity and simplicity in multiple marriage situations; protect your children’s inheritance from their past and future divorces; designate back-up parents for your minor children; and protect your young, immature, or special-needs heirs from abusing their inheritance.

Revocable Living Trust — Estate Plan

Living Trust Based Estate Planning is an increasingly popular alternative to the more traditional Last Will and Testament. Louisiana Living Trusts allow you to accomplish all of the same goals achieved with a Will, but with the added benefit of avoiding a court supervised Probate procedure after your death. Living Trusts allow you to re-title certain assets out of your name while retaining full control over those assets. By transferring assets out of your name, the transfer of those assets to your heirs after your death is quickened and simplified. In addition, the amount your heirs ultimately receive from your estate is maximized because your estate is not forced to bear the court costs and attorneys’ fees associated with court supervised Estate Settlement. And, because the court supervised Probate procedure (called “Succession” in Louisiana) is avoided, sensitive information about your finances and personal and family affairs is not required to be made part of the public records; is not subject to public scrutiny; and you maintain and preserve your privacy.

Medicaid Trust — Estate Plan

Nursing homes in Louisiana can cost you or your family in excess of $80,000 per year. This cost can wipe out your entire life savings in a short period of time. In addition, while your home is not a countable resource for Louisiana Long Term Care Medicaid eligibility, the state will maintain a lien on your home so that upon your death, your home will need to be sold so that the proceeds of the sale can be used to reimburse Medicaid for what it paid on your behalf. The key to protecting your assets from these enormous expenses is to PLAN AHEAD. Medicaid eligibility laws change regularly and it seems that with each change, it is more and more difficult to protect your assets and qualify for Louisiana Long Term Care Medicaid.

Utilizing the attorneys and staff of Poche’ Estate Planning Law Firm, you and your family will enjoy many of the benefits of Louisiana Medicaid planning, including: protecting your bank accounts, CDs, annuities, mutual funds, stocks, and retirement accounts from the rising costs of nursing homes; using customized trusts to own your assets whereby you retain control but you are not forced to spend down your assets; structuring the ownership of your home so that it is not subject to the Medicaid Estate Recovery laws upon your death, while maintaining your property tax homestead exemption; arranging the affairs of a married couple so that when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse can qualify for Medicaid if necessary; and structuring your assets properly between Countable Resources and Non-Countable Resources. Please know that the earlier you start this process, the better. While no one can predict when this kind of care will be needed, you will get the “biggest bang for the buck” if you undertake our planning system at least five (5) years before you need Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home costs.

Estate Planning Services

Legal Estate Planning Services

Trusts

Wills

Power of Attorney

Living Will Declarations

Will — Estate Plan

Revocable Living Trust — Estate Plan

Medicaid Trust — Estate Plan

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Please contact our law firm now to get started. We are ready to help with all of your legal estate planning needs and serve as YOUR LEGAL COMPASS TO LIFE!