SIMPLIFIED ESTATE PLANNING
Your Thomas Walters Estate Planning attorney will develop a custom, comprehensive estate plan specifically designed to evolve with you and your family. Even as laws and personal circumstances change, our services cover you.
Your Estate Planning portfolio will include:
Trust transfer documents
Property Power of Attorney
Health Care Power of Attorney
Estate Planning Letter
Location Lists
Living Will
Instructions for Executors of a Will or Settlors & Trustees
Glossary of legal terms applicable to your estate
Easy to Understand Documents: Your estate planning portfolio is for you and your family. Thus, we include instructions and explanations that leave no room for confusion. Your loved ones can pick up the portfolio, and know exactly what to do.
LIFETIME LAWYER PROGRAM
With this program, our clients receive an ongoing, lifetime service that ensures your estate plan remains current through life's changes and law revisions. Our full service, lifetime approach offers a lifetime of peace of mind for you and your family.
Estate Plan Maintenance: Your lifetime relationship with TW Estate Planning attorneys means creating a program that works for you and your family, now and in the future. At no additional cost, we will change any of your original Georgia documents.
A Lifetime of Answers: You gain the lifelong benefit of calling or emailing with questions related to your estate plan without ever receiving another bill from Thomas Walters Estate Planning.
Access to Documents: Easy and immediate access to legal documents upon a client’s death is another benefit of the program. Electronically scanned documents are kept safe in accordance with banking security regulations. These documents can be shared securely with a client’s family, wherever they may be located. This makes settling the estate significantly more convenient and minimizes the time heirs spend maneuvering the legal process.
Out-of-state Property: With TW Estate Planning's multi-state presence, our attorneys possess the expertise to incorporate property owned outside the state of residence and heirs that live in other states.
Easy, Secure Access to Estate Plans: Our clients never have to worry about misplacing their documents or theft. At Thomas Walters Estate Planning, we securely store every estate planning document. This allows us to provide you and your approved heirs (upon your death) immediate access to your estate planning documents.
PROBATE LEGAL SERVICES
When someone passes away while owning certain assets in their name, the surviving family members and loved ones must go through the court-supervised Probate process to settle the estate.
Probate is a legal procedure requiring a Court to validate a Last Will and Testament, appoint an executor, and then grant the executor authority to transfer assets from the name of the deceased into the names of the appropriate heirs.
The Executor’s duties include the identification and inventorying of the deceased person’s assets, obtaining appraisals for any property, notifying creditors, paying debts, completing tax returns, filing taxes, completing necessary accounting, and distributing remaining assets in accordance with either the Last Will & Testament or state law.
Tasks the surviving family members may be expected to handle during Probate include, but are not limited to the following:
Identifying and completing all applicable Probate Court forms
Getting all necessary heirs' signatures
Timely filing all court documents
Getting appropriate signatures on various court orders
Working with the legal departments of the financial institutions in which the deceased held assets
Liquidating financial accounts of the deceased
Accumulating assets into a single account
Maintaining detailed accounting records throughout the Probate process
Transferring ownership titles for all real estate (including time shares) from the deceased's name to the name of heirs
Re-titling vehicles
Interpreting the deceased’s Last Will & Testament to ensure that various parties involved receive particular information at the proper times during the process
Complying with federal estate tax laws
Completing necessary tax reporting filings
The estate planning lawyers at Thomas Walters understand the subtle nuances and endless requirements of probate and estate administration. We are experienced in easing the burden on families by expediting and simplifying the process. You do not have to go through it alone.