Areas of Practice

Asset Protection

Elder Law

This is an area of legal practice dealing with those issues impacting older Americans. Components of Elder Law include estate planning, trusts, Medicaid planning, and guardianships.

Medicaid Planning

The greatest threat to most people’s estate is not taxes. It is the depletion of their estate due to nursing home care expenses. Medicaid Planning is one important way of reducing financial risk to your estate.

Creditors

Effective estate planning helps lower the risk that one of your loved ones may lose their inheritance due to creditors, lawsuits, a divorcing spouse or their own mismanagement of money.

Revocable Living Trusts

A Revocable Living Trust is a Will substitute that provides asset protection. Instead of using a Will to distribute your property to loved ones, you transfer your property to the Revocable Living Trust. You and/or your spouse are the trustee of the Revocable Living Trust. The trustee has full power to manage and protect assets held in trust in the same way as if the assets were still in your name. While you are alive and able, you serve as the trustee.

If incapacity strikes, your successor trustee steps into your shoes and continues the management and protection of trust assets according to your guidelines. Your successor trustee’s powers are limited to assets owned by the trust. After death, your successor trustee will distribute the property according to the terms of the trust which operates much the same way that a Will operates. However, while a Will has to go through the public probate process, the property in your trust is distributed privately without court involvement which is more costly and time consuming.

Insurance*

Holland, Ray, Upchurch & Hillen, P.A. does not sell insurance. Nevertheless, we understand the value of insurance and its place in any thoughtful discussion of Estate Planning and Asset Protection.

Retirement Planning

Asset Protection strategies can be as important as investment strategies in a comprehensive plan for a secure retirement.