Estate Planning and Business Succession Planning

We have an extremely advanced estate planning practice right here in Batesville, Arkansas, employing the latest and most up-to-date legal instruments to protect and administer your estate upon death or incapacity. Proper estate planning in Arkansas does not have to be expensive or overly complex, but it is necessary to properly transfer your property upon your death to your beneficiaries, and your loved ones will thank you for it in the long-run. You have worked hard for the property and possessions that you have, sometimes you’ve worked your entire life for it, and you should take the opportunity to determine how you want that property administered upon your death or incapacity. Give us a call and we will work diligently and efficiently to set up an effective and affordable estate plan. We are located in Batesville, Arkansas, and we serve all surrounding areas including Ash Flat, Greers Ferry, Heber Springs, Melbourne, Mountain View, Mountain Home, Newport, Salem, and Searcy. Also, we can travel to you to execute your estate plan!

What Is An Estate

Almost every one of us has an “estate” of some sort, which is made up of everything that you own including your house, other real estate, car, business, checking and savings accounts, investments, life insurance, and your personal possessions. An estate plan can be as simple as a last will and testament or it can be a complete living revocable trust estate plan, depending upon your situation and wishes. Everyone needs an estate plan in some form and we can help you determine which form of estate plan works best for you, your family, and your financial situation.

What Does An Estate Plan Do

The purpose of an estate plan is for you to determine and control how you want the property of your estate to be given out to the people or organizations you care about most and to avoid costly and lengthy court proceedings and delays. At the most basic level, your estate plan should enable you to dictate who you want your property given to, what property you want given, and when you want that property given upon your death or incapacity. A comprehensive estate plan that includes a trust will avoid the process of probate in Arkansas if it is done correctly. 

Estate planning is not just for retired folks, it is for everyone that has any property, business, possessions, or money, regardless of the size or amount. The most common reasons people give for not having any sort of estate plan is that “they don’t think they have enough money,” “they don’t own enough property,” “they’re not old enough to think about that sort of thing,” or “they just simply don’t want to think about what will happen to their property if they were to pass.” Although these concerns are understandable, they simply miss the mark because not having an estate plan in place takes away your ability to determine who and how you want your property disbursed upon your death or incapacity under Arkansas law. After all, you can’t take it with you so you might as well have the final say in who gets what property that you have worked so hard to attain and achieve!

When you pass, your property will either pass through the Arkansas laws of intestacy (when you die without a will), through probate (if you have a will), or through your estate plan (if you have a proper estate plan that avoids the process of probate). The type and complexity of an Arkansas estate plan that will work best for you, your family, and your wishes depends upon many factors including the property you own, your financial situation, your family situation, any businesses owned, and how you want the property to be administered. It can be as simple as a last will and testament or it can be a complete living revocable trust estate plan. We have the experience and the expertise to help you determine exactly which type of estate plan is best for your in protecting your property and making sure that your final wishes with regard to your property are carried out. Located in Batesville, Arkansas, we are here to help you secure your estate plan.

Other Than Wills or Trusts, What Else Should I Think About?

Estate planning also includes other facets of determining your final wishes including what happens to your financial affairs or to provide a plan for your medical care upon incapacitation. In order to properly care for your financial affairs and to make known and administer your medical care upon your incapacitation, we use durable powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, health care directives, and other necessary documentation that will make the process of administering your final wishes so much easier on your family and loved ones. It may be hard to talk about, but we all need to make our final wishes known and properly documented in order to make sure that our wishes are administered and to relieve as much burden on our family members as possible. We can help you do just that right here in Batesville, Arkansas. We can also travel to you to make it as easy and affordable as possible.

Follow our estate planning blogs on our blog page including Basics of Estate Planning (Wills vs. Trusts) at https://www.landonreeveslaw.com/blog