Your Local Firm. Statewide. The Way to All Your Legal Needs.

Estate Planning
What You Need to Know

Estate Planning

Estate planning provides you and your loved ones comfort in your time of need. Estate planning can reduce tax consequences, litigation and unnecessary expenses. Everyone has an estate, regardless of his/her capital, assets, property, or business interests.

What is Estate Planning?

Estate Planning is the process of anticipating and arranging for the disposal of an estate. Estate planning typically attempts to eliminate uncertainties over the administration of a probate and maximize the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses. Guardians are often designated for minor children and beneficiaries.
Estate planning involves the will, trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of appointment, property ownership (joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety), gifts, and powers of attorney. Specific final arrangements, such as whether to be buried or cremated, are also often part of the documents. More sophisticated estate plans may even cover deferring or decreasing estate taxes or winding up a business.
Proper planning will ensure that your heirs will receive a greater portion of what you have to leave them and that the persons you designate to receive certain effects will actually receive them.
If you do not make these decisions with an appropriate estate plan, the State will decide for you according to the laws of the jurisdiction where your assets are held. The State will accomplish this with no consideration for your wishes.

Estate Planning & Trust

A Will allows you to clearly communicate your final wishes. Among other things, a Will allows you to appoint someone to administrate your estate, designate beneficiaries, specify how your assets are distributed, provide for the future care of your pets, and appoint a guardian for minor children. Parkway can assist you in creating and executing a Will, so that your estate is distributed according to your wishes.
Trusts hold your assets and allows you to name a trustee who will manage those assets on behalf of the beneficiaries of the trust. A trust also provides specific instructions on how your assets are to be controlled and how they are to be distributed to the beneficiaries. There are several different kinds of trusts. For example, a revocable trust allows you to control your assets during your lifetime, and then appoint a successor trustee who will hold your assets for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries after you pass away. Parkway can help you decide what kind of trust is right for you.
Should you become incapacitated, a power of attorney allows you to appoint an agent to control your property on your behalf. Delaware law lists certain powers that you can give to your agent. With a power of attorney, you can choose which powers you want to give to your agent. Parkway can provide guidance as to what each power entails and can help you create a power of attorney that gives your agent the level of control you desire.
An advanced healthcare directive combines a living will and a medical power of attorney. This document allows you to provide healthcare instructions in the event that you become incapacitated, like in a living will. It also allows you to appoint someone you trust to make healthcare decisions on your behalf, based on the wishes you express in the advanced healthcare directive.

For example, you can specify what types of treatment you want to receive if a doctor determines you are in a persistent vegetative state or terminally ill. You can also provide specific instructions that align with your religious beliefs, so you can be sure that your beliefs are upheld even when you are unable to make decisions. Parkway can help you navigate the different types of treatment and can help you provide specific healthcare instructions.
A funeral directive allows you to provide specific instructions for your funeral, including burial or cremation. For example, you can choose where you want to be buried or where you you’re your ashes placed. Or you could choose less traditional options, such as

You can also name someone who will carry out your instructions. Typically, these instructions will be in your Will and your wishes will be carried out by your executor. A funeral directive can give your family the peace of mind that they are carrying out your final wishes and it can avoid disagreements regarding the disposition of your remains.

Parkway can help you decide how to best describe your funeral plans so that your wishes regarding the disposition of your remains and the celebration of your life is carried out with care and attention.
A business succession plan allows business owners to direct what happens to their business after they pass away. For example, you may want to appoint a specific family member or employee to take over your role and interest in the business. You may also decide that you would prefer to sell your business and have the proceeds distributed to your beneficiaries. No matter what you decide, Parkway can help guide you through the process and give you the peace of mind that your business and employees are taken care of after your death.