Practice Areas
Take control of your present and future with an experienced estate attorney
When it comes to issues regarding your life and assets, you deserve a strong, competent advocate to act as your personal guide through the legal hurdles you may face. Whether it is a case involving guardianship, probate law, contested wills and trusts, or estate planning, our goal is to develop the optimal solution for your unique needs.
Darnell Law Group prides itself on devising innovative and creative strategies that provide outstanding results for our clients. We devote the same care and attention to each client, regardless of the size of their estate or the complexity of the issues involved.
Estate Planning
A comprehensive estate plan is just as important during your life as it is at your death. Estate planning involves more than just appointing who will inherit your property after your death. Estate planning is also life planning, including who will manage your financial affairs and health care if you are unable to, along with what actions you should take during your life to help make your future plans a reality.
Our estate attorney provides well-crafted estate plans that protect loved ones, save money, and avoid costly litigation. Whether an estate is large and complex or more modest, we carefully listen to our clients and work with them to develop long-term personal and family goals. Our experience and creativity enable us to provide practical and sensible solutions to the tax and non-tax issues confronting our clients.
Wills
Life is a journey full of twists and turns, so it's important to have a plan if the unexpected occurs. By creating a will, you can alleviate the burden on your family, helping them avoid uncertainty and ensuring that your last wishes will be carried out according to your wishes. A will can also be used to appoint a guardian for a minor child should your death leave the child without a parent.
Our wills attorney will assess your personal situation and goals to determine how a will might fit into your estate plan. We will consider a number of factors, such as the size and complexity of your estate, whether any beneficiaries are minors, and your personal goals before drafting your will. Our attorney is experienced at using wills to meet a variety of estate planning needs.
Trusts
While a will may be sufficient for those who do not own extensive assets, it is often just one part of a comprehensive estate plan. If you own a business or other complex assets, you will likely need to take additional steps to ensure that your wishes will be carried out correctly, including putting assets in a trust.
A trust is a financial instrument and legal agreement in which a person’s assets are placed under the control of a trustee while providing instructions on how these assets should be distributed to certain heirs. Assets in a trust can often be distributed more easily and efficiently than those that are left to one’s beneficiaries in a will, since it will not be necessary to go through the probate process.
Our estate attorney can help you develop the appropriate documents to dictate how your assets will be distributed after your death and may also help you reduce or avoid taxes.
Probate
By taking the time to consider all of your assets and make plans for how they should be handled during and after your life, you can avoid uncertainty for yourself and your loved ones. One issue to consider is the probate process, in which the executor of an estate will file a will in court and oversee the process of distributing assets to beneficiaries.
In many cases, this complicated process can be simplified by using trusts or other estate planning tools that allow assets to be passed to beneficiaries without the need to go through probate. Our probate attorney can help you determine the ideal strategy for managing your assets and help you take steps to minimize potential estate taxes and address other financial issues.