Estate Planning

The Law Offices of Joseph M. Earley has been providing estate planning services in the northstate since 1993. Failure to have an appropriate estate plan can have detrimental consequences, financially and emotionally. Our office strives to make the estate planning process enjoyable and comfortable. The decision to use a trust, will, joint tenancy, power of attorney, gifting, or any estate planning technique (or any combination thereof), is a decision which must take into account all of the circumstances confronting a person or family. No two situations are identical and, therefore, an estate plan must accommodate such individual circumstances. Estate planning is a very personal process and requires an intimate discussion regarding a client’s circumstances and desires.

Our office provides a 30-minute free consultation.

Estate Planning General Information

What Is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the attorney-assisted process that examines your needs and assets and helps you realize your goals. There are two major goals in most estate planning: to keep costs down and to make it as efficient as possible.

Incapacity

One of hazards of life is incapacity. Legal incapacity means that an individual can no longer make decisions for himself or herself. This creates significant problems in dealing with finances and health care decisions.

Advance Health Care Directive

We try to help people deal with medical decisions in the event that they become incapacitated before they pass away. In California, this document is called an Advance Health Care Directive, which we prepare for our clients. It allows an individual's nominee to make health care decisions on behalf of someone who is incapacitated.

Durable Power of Attorney

To assist people with financial decisions if they become incapacitated, we prepare a document called a Durable Power of Attorney. This document allows a nominee to make financial decisions on behalf of a person who becomes incapacitated. The equivalent of a Durable Power of Attorney is also drafted into most living trusts to allow the trustee to make decisions for someone who is incapacitated.

Avoiding the Probate System

As with trusts, the Advance Health Care Directive and the Durable Power of Attorney have a simple concept driving them: to avoid the probate system. Unhappily, the public's perception that the legal system is inefficient and expensive can be all too true. If someone becomes incapacitated without an Advance Health Care Directive or Durable Power of Attorney, then the only recourse in California is a costly process called a conservatorship.   In general, it is preferable to avoid the legal process involved if possible.