Estate Administration and Legal Advice From an Experienced Lawyer
At the Atlanta estate planning and probate law firm of Aitkens & Aitkens, P.C., our attorneys provide outstanding client service for families and individuals who need advice concerning wills and trusts, tax planning, powers of attorney and incapacity planning, the probate of wills and the administration of estates. For additional information about the range of our services for Georgia residents and persons who live elsewhere but have an interest in a Georgia will or trust, contact one of our probate lawyers in Atlanta.
Estate Planning
In Georgia, our relatively streamlined and efficient probate procedures make the testamentary will an effective and cost-effective vehicle for the transfer of assets from one generation to the next. For persons whose estates are likely to be substantial enough to make tax planning a serious consideration, our familiarity with a very broad spectrum of trust instruments can provide your family with the estate planning solutions that address your needs precisely.
We will explain the function of irrevocable life insurance trusts, inter vivos grantor trusts (also known as revocable living trusts), credit shelter trusts, and charitable remainder trusts as means of transferring assets out of your estate, while keeping them within your substantial control. For many families, the combination of a will and a unified credit remainder trust, which takes advantage of federal tax credits to offset estate and gift tax liability, will be sufficient to insulate your estate from the bite of estate taxes. For other families, additional alternatives should be explored, such as special needs trusts for disabled children, family LLPs to hold the assets of family businesses, or family business succession planning to address the future operation of successful family businesses.
Our Georgia estate planning lawyers will also help you plan for sudden incapacity. Durable and medical powers of attorney will authorize trusted persons to manage your financial and healthcare interests in periods when you cannot do so yourself, and an advance directive to physicians will remove any doubt as to your intentions for extended life support during a final illness or irreversible condition at their finals moments.
Estate and Trust Administration
Our probate attorneys represent executors and personal representatives in the probate of wills. We also handle intestate succession on behalf of court-appointed administrators, including those who live out of state. Our experience with the inventory and accounting of the assets of the estate, together with our ability to handle claims against the estate and resolve estate tax issues, can save the estate time and money and lead to a quicker and more complete distribution of the assets to heirs and legatees.
Additionally, we can help with ancillary estate administration tasks that involve Georgia real property held by estates under probate in other states, including probate litigation services when necessary.
The trust administration attorneys of Aitkens & Aitkens, P.C. can also advise trustees about the proper discharge of their responsibilities. We can assist you with any issues that might arise as to your qualifications to serve as a trustee, and we can help make sure that all ostensible assets have been properly transferred into trust, as well as resolve the problems if such transfers have not been completed.
For further information about our ability to provide effective advice with respect to wills and trusts, or for our highly professional estate administration and trust administration services, contact the Atlanta estate planning and probate attorneys at Aitkens & Aitkens.
