Areas of Practice
The areas of law that we are able to assist you with consist of:
Elder Law
Estate Planning
Will/Trusts
There are five ways in which your assets can be left to survive in the world once you die. The more unprepared you are the harder and more expensive it will be for your beneficiaries to be able to obtain any possessions that hold value to them. Here are the ways in which you can organize your assets to be handled in the event of your death.
- Intestate: or in other words doing nothing. The old adage if you aim at nothing that is exactly what you will hit. This may or may not distribute your estate as you would like. In certain circumstances distribution is horrible and unfair. Please contact us and we will inform you more on how property passes in Missouri without a will/trust.
- Non-probate transfers: types of transfers (ie. pay on death, transfer on death and beneficiary deed) that upon death will transfer automatically (although not without some action being taken) by rule of law. However, in these times this is not a good idea as it offers no asset protection.
- Last Will and Testament: or what is often referred to as “a simple Will”. This Will makes sure your distributions to your loved ones are carried out according to your wishes. But it does not address things like asset protection, Medicaid recovery or probate.
- Revocable Trust: does little more than avoid probate. It leaves all the Settler’s assets exposed to creditors and Medicaid recovery.
- Irrevocable Trust: There are many types to accomplish different things, but the most common type now is the Income Only Trust (IOT) which protects all but the income portion of the assets from creditors such as Medicaid and also avoids the costs and hassle of probate administration.
It also provides for a Special Needs beneficiary so that their state assistance will not be disrupted upon your (the parent’s) death.
Depending on which form of estate planning is right for you an analysis of your individual circumstances needs to be reviewed with an estate planning attorney for more specific advice. There are basic needs in every estate plan but beyond those needs each individual situation requires a personalized plan. Warner Law, LLC is here to find the right plan for you, if you wish to begin planning or would like to hear more about one of these options please contact us.
Real Estate
Business/Corporation Law
Agricultural Law
Traffic Law
Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefit