Making Smart Moves: Planning for Tomorrow to Reduce Worries Today

What can you do to prepare for most contingencies in your life and your children’s lives?

Suppose that you were headed towards a comfortable retirement, but wanted to provide something for your two children, one of whom happened to have autism. When the Orlandos first came to Grimaldi & Yeung they were particularly concerned about their younger child, a man in his early 20s. Although his autism was of the “high functioning” kind, he lived at home and relied on his parents for many things. In addition, their daughter had just gotten married and the Orlandos wanted to be sure that she had the freedom to raise her family. Although the Orlandos were in their 50s, they wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. We helped them:

Inventory their assets, including home, investments, retirement accounts, bank accounts and insurance policies.
Update their wills.
Issue Advanced Directives to ensure that their wishes for their own lives were carried out.
Set up a Special Needs Trust for their son.
Prepare a Letter of Intent documenting their son’s needs and preferences.
Develop a complete, flexible estate plan involving the whole family and the transfer of many of their assets into a revocable living trust.

The process of creating their family plan made the Orlandos an even closer family — and relieved a significant source of anxiety.

Trusts & Estates

Grimaldi & Yeung can help ensure that the assets you worked so hard for are first fully available to support you and then are distributed according to your wishes. Creating an estate is about protecting assets — and it’s about providing peace of mind for you and your heirs. Advance planning is key; if you were to become ill or incapacitated, it could be very difficult to regain control of your assets and your life without complicated and undesirable court or professional intervention. An effective estate plan consists of:

A detailed inventory of your assets.
An up-to-date will (generally not more than two years old).
Trusts to protect various assets and to customize your plan for both you and your heirs.
An assessment of your estate’s potential tax liabilities.
A coordinated plan for health care and long-term care expenses.

Trust and Estate Planning

A carefully-constructed, highly individualized estate plan is your vision statement for how your assets are to be used. During your lifetime, it can help plan for your needs and priorities. It can also allow you to pass some of your hard-earned savings to your children, grandchildren and other relatives — sometimes while you can still see them enjoy it. It can also be used to fund your charitable activities and interests.

In the event of your death, your estate plan provides a blueprint for your trustees and executors. A clear estate plan can avoid some of the interpersonal issues and family conflicts that arise when people are coping with grief and adjusting to change.

The process starts with a detailed inventory of your assets and continues with a thorough exploration of your intentions. Living trusts can ensure that your assets are protected during your own lifetime — and enjoyed wisely by your heirs afterwards. They have the added benefit of providing you and your family with privacy and limiting the ability of the courts to interfere.

Grimaldi & Yeung is highly sensitive to family needs in developing your estate plan and providing related legal services. We provide people-focused solutions that bring families closer together in creating the legal documents and in implementing the actual estate plan.

The Growing Need for Specially-Drafted Trusts

No matter the size of your asset base, a trust can be a critical part of your plan. It allows savings and other assets to be managed during your lifetime — by yourself if you are able and by your designee if you are not. It also keeps the assets private and out of probate after your death. Additionally, a trust can be an important tool to do special planning for taxes, for underage heirs and for family members with special needs or disabilities or for individual heirs who need help with managing their inheritances or are at financial risk.