Atlanta Estate Planning Lawyer
Achieve Peace of Mind with an Experienced Atlanta Estate Planning Lawyer
Over the course of their lives, many Atlanta residents build up significant assets. These assets provide essential support and flexibility during life. Once you pass, however, the same assets can become a problem for your family without an up-to-date, organized estate plan.
The experienced Atlanta estate planning lawyers at Slowik Estate Planning can help. We’ll ensure that your final wishes are honored and that your affairs are properly organized.
Atlanta Estate Planning Attorney
What is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is the process of settling how your assets, affairs, health decisions, guardianship, and related issues will be handled in the event of your incapacity or death.
Everyone’s needs are unique when it comes to estate plans. For this reason, an estate plan can encompass a range of documents and issues. Standard estate planning tools include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives. Naming and updating beneficiaries on vehicles, such as bank accounts and retirement savings, can also play a role in estate planning.
Estate Planning is About More than Money.
Many estate planning documents are financial in nature, yet estate planning is about more than money. A solid estate plan will:
- Protect your loved ones from unnecessary tax bills and difficult arguments or conversations.
- Name decision-makers you trust to carry out your wishes as you have expressed them.
- Alleviate burdens on your family, who will already be grieving your incapacity or death.
Estate plans play essential roles in your long-term financial and physical health. Yet only about 33 percent of US adults have an estate plan - a number that did not rise significantly even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some communities, the number is even higher; a 2023 survey found that only 28 percent of Black families in Atlanta had an estate plan.
Estate Planning Benefits
What Are the Benefits of Working with an Experienced Estate Planning Attorney in Atlanta?
Many do-it-yourself estate planning websites and tools currently exist. However, these are often one-size-fits-all offerings. As such, they may not be a good fit for your specific needs and situation. An experienced Atlanta estate planning attorney can provide personalized, experienced advice and assistance. A dedicated one-on-one approach with an attorney offers several benefits. A well-formed estate plan can:
Preserve wealth through structured giving and tax minimization. Maximize the wealth you leave to future generations through tools like structured giving, charitable donations, and other methods to minimize the tax cost of inheritance.
Ensure your assets are directed toward your wishes. Whether you want your children to receive everything or wish to support a charity’s work for the greater good in Atlanta, a well-crafted estate plan ensures your assets support what matters to you, allowing your efforts to resonate through future generations.
Distribute assets efficiently. An estate plan can help your estate minimize the time spent in probate or avoid it entirely. Avoiding probate streamlines the processes of distributing your estate.
Protect loved ones and provide financial security. Whether you have a loved one with disabilities who needs ongoing support or you simply wish to protect your family from the headaches of probate during a difficult time, a well-designed estate plan can provide the financial security and protection your loved ones need.
Identify guardians for minor children and dependents. Who will take care of your children or others who depend on you when you die? In an estate plan, you can specify the people you want to see take on this role. During the planning process, you can have the conversations you need to ensure everyone is on the same page about your children and their potential future needs.
Secure peace of mind. With your affairs in order, you can rest easy, knowing you’ve left clear instructions about your last needs and expectations.
Who Should Consider Hiring an Estate Planning Lawyer?
In short: everyone. Anyone can benefit from a conversation with an Atlanta estate planning attorney - no matter how young you are or how few assets you may have.
A little-known fact: Every person in Georgia has a “default” estate plan. Georgia law contains instructions for how to handle a person’s estate if that person dies without making an estate plan of their own.
This “default” plan allows courts to handle situations in which someone dies without leaving personalized instructions. Because it’s intended to cover any situation, however, it tends to cover most individual situations badly. The default rules may not fit your needs now, and they may provide even less protection as your life evolves and changes.
Individuals and families in Atlanta also benefit from discussing their estate plan with an experienced lawyer if they are high-net-worth individuals, create a blended family via marriage, own a business, or own significant digital assets.
Services
Testimonials
Jake is a person that really cares about his work. Cant recommend him enough and definitely telling my friends and family about his services.
- Catherine B.
Who is Helped by Estate Planning
Anyone can benefit from speaking to an estate planning attorney. However, it’s especially important to discuss an estate plan at key life stages like:
- Becoming engaged or newly married
- Having a child, adopting a child, or becoming a child’s guardian
- Buying a home or other real estate, starting a business, or buying a stake in a business
- Receiving an inheritance of money, property, or other assets
- Any significant changes in your health
- Divorce, or the death of a spouse
- Children reaching adulthood
- Retiring, downsizing, or making significant changes to your career or earnings
How Slowik Estate Planning Develops Your Estate Plan
Slowik Estate Planning uses a flexible four-step process to ensure all bases are covered while also providing personalized attention and support.
01
Initial Consulting
02
Assessment & Analysis
03
Document Preparation
04
Execution & Implementation
Ongoing support after implementation
We will be there to ensure your plan evolves with you as your life progresses. We provide guidance now and in the future for all of life’s needs.
1. Initial Consulting
At our first meeting, we invite clients to discuss their wishes, goals, and current financial and personal situations. We listen attentively to understand where you are now, what you wish to accomplish, and what you want an estate plan to do - or to avoid.
2. Assessment & Analysis
With an understanding of your needs and goals, we turn to reviewing the facts. We’ll examine your existing assets and debts. We’ll evaluate and identify any risks or tax issues you face. We incorporate information about your family dynamics and desires as we prepare personalized advice.
3. Document Preparation
At our first meeting, we invite clients to discuss their wishes, goals, and current financial and personal situations. We listen attentively to understand where you are now, what you wish to accomplish, and what you want an estate plan to do - or to avoid.
4. Execution & Implementation
Some estate planning documents, like a will, require formal signing procedures. We set up the signing requirements, explain how to fund trusts, and coordinate with your financial and insurance advisors as needed. We also explain, and practice, appropriate storage and backup processes.
Our Estate Planning Programs
Slowik Estate Planning offers several estate planning services and programs, including a will-based and a trust-based program.
Will Based Program
Our will-based program
allows our clients to:
- Specify end-of-life arrangements
- Designate financial and healthcare agents
- Handle incapacity
- Leave gifts or exclude individuals
Will Based Program Includes:
Last Will and Testiment
Healthcare Directive
Power of Attorney
Estate Planning Binder
Digital Backup
Trust Program
Our trust-based program offers the following benefits:
- Nuanced wealth transfer timing
- Tax minimization
- Avoiding probate costs and delays
- Asset distribution control and conditions
Trust Program Includes:
Revocable Living Trust
Pour Over Will
Health Care Directives
Power of Attorney
Certificate of Trust
Funding Instructions
Asset Inventory
Estate Planning Binder
Digital Backup
Key Components Explained
Many estate plans share several key components. Here are some of the most common components and the purpose each serves in a comprehensive estate plan.
Last Will & Testament
Leaves instructions for managing a person’s estate after their death. Any assets not in trust or with designated beneficiaries go through probate via the will.
A trust avoids probate by naming beneficiaries directly. During your lifetime, you have flexibility with trust assets; on your death, the assets in the trust go to your beneficiaries. A trust must be funded with the assets it is intended to protect.
Healthcare Directive
Also known as an Advance Medical Directive, this document plans for your incapacity. It names people you trust to make medical decisions if you cannot. It also specifies preferences, such as how much intervention you wish to have in a life-threatening situation.
Jake made the complex process of setting up a family trust feel clear, grounded, and surprisingly human. I can’t recommend him highly enough.
- R. Julian
Financial Power of Attorney
This document names someone you trust to handle your finances if you become incapable of doing so yourself.
Pour-Over Will
A pour-over will often accompany a trust. Its purpose is to “catch” and protect any assets that aren’t included in the trust.
Funding Instructions and Asset Inventory
These instructions explain how to fund a trust, so the trust can protect your assets. The inventory also includes instructions on how to update its contents, including special considerations for digital assets.
Estate Planning Binder and Digital Backup
These tools provide a centralized place for your documents. They allow your family or designated representatives to find the documents when needed. They also provide peace of mind in the form of backups.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common Mistakes & Pitfalls to Avoid
There are many right ways to distribute your assets and protect your needs during incapacity. However, there are also several common mistakes and pitfalls people make when approaching their estate plan. Some of the most common include:
- Waiting too long
- Failing to fund your trust
- Outdated documents (marriage/divorce/new children/new assets)
- Ignoring digital assets
- Naming agents without backup or discussion
- Poor asset titling/ownership structure
- Not coordinating with other advisors (tax, financial, insurance)
- Failing to communicate the plan with your family/trusted persons
- Over-complicating your estate plan or under-planning
An experienced estate planning attorney ensures you avoid these pitfalls, along with less commonly known mistakes that can lurk in state and federal tax laws. Speak to an Atlanta estate planning lawyer at Slowik Estate Planning today for more help.
Additional Services
Estate Planning
Grow your wealth, protect your wealth and provide for loved ones and charitable causes.
Asset Protection
Guard your assets from potential risks and protect what you've worked hard to build.
Family Offices
Our legal solutions for family offices integrate seamlessly with investment, tax, and philanthropic teams.
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Protect What Matters
Slowik Estate Planning provides an array of planning services for families and individuals. Schedule a consultation and begin preparing for the future you envision.
