Estate Planning for Widows and Widowers

If you are a widow or widower, you may have questions about the estate plan you created with your spouse, and what you need to do. If you never created an estate plan before, you may now be thinking it is time to put one in place.

Administering Your Existing Trust

If you had an existing trust when your spouse passed away, certain steps need to be taken to administer the trust. What these exact steps are will depend on the terms of your trust. We can help you review your existing trust and guide you through the process of administering it due to the death of your spouse. You may want to also make changes to your trust at this time, and we can help you as well as advise you what you are not allowed to change.

Creating a New Estate Plan

Many people do not create an estate plan until after their spouse dies. If this is you, know that you are not alone. Now that you are single, it is crucial that you choose someone ahead of time to make legal, financial, and medical decisions on your behalf if you ever experience a period of incapacity. Also, if you do not have a trust, your estate will very likely be required to go through probate, even if you didn’t need to when your spouse passed away.

We can help you with creating an estate plan to make sure your wishes are followed and so your family doesn’t have to go through the expensive court processes of conservatorship or probate.

Fixing A Broken Trust

If you had a trust with your spouse and have now run into difficulties with real estate, financial accounts, or other assets, we can help you work through these problems. If you had a trust with your spouse that was not updated and are now faced with a complicated trust that no longer suits you and your family needs, we can also assist you with modifying your trust.

Schedule a consultation today and we can answer your questions and help you create a custom-designed plan that fits your specific needs and wishes.