Areas of Practice

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Estate Planning and Asset Protection

Holland, Ray, Upchurch & Hillen, P.A. will help you develop and execute a comprehensive plan for the personal, tax and business issues that affect your assets. A comprehensive plan will allow you to:

  1. Control your property while you are alive
  2. Take care of yourself and your loved ones if you become disabled
  3. Convey your assets to your loved ones before or after your death
  4. Reduce taxes, professional fees and court costs

Estate Planning and Administration

Estate Tax Planning

Nobody wants to pay more taxes to the IRS than the law requires. Still, developing an estate plan without tax planning is like buying a safe before you know what you need to protect.

Holland, Ray, Upchurch & Hillen, P.A. has developed a comprehensive approach to estate planning that help clients determine their legacy and by identifying their personal and professional objectives. Holland, Ray, Upchurch & Hillen, P.A. can develop estate planning and asset protection strategies to support the client’s objectives and minimize estate taxes.

Wills

A Will is an effective entry level estate planning tool that ensures distribution of your property after your death. However, wills must go through Probate, which is a public process that can last for many months and eat up a significant fraction of the estate in legal expenses.

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.

Wealth Transfer Planning

How wealth is transferred from one generation to the next is a very important estate planning concept which is case specific for each client. Tools considered for use in wealth transfer planning include Revocable Living Trusts, Wills, Trusts, Beneficiary Protection Planning and Business Continuity Planning.

Family Conflict Avoidance

Certain Estate Planning strategies can reduce the potential for family conflict by disclosure of the Estate Plan to family members or by including incentives in the Estate Plan for avoiding conflict.

Beneficiary Protection Planning

Certain Estate Planning tools can reduce the risk that one of your beneficiaries may lose their inheritance from you due to creditors, lawsuits, a divorcing spouse, or mismanagement of money.

Charitable Giving

Charitable Giving as part of an Estate Plan gives you the opportunity to leave a legacy and minimize taxes.

Probate Avoidance

Probating a will can be time-consuming, expensive and tiresome. Probate is the process of administering an estate in which a will is presented to the court, creditor claims are satisfied and assets are distributed to heirs. Effective Estate Planning can help you avoid probate with the use of Revocable Living Trusts.

Estate Administration

This is part of the probate process in which a will is presented to the court, creditor claims are satisfied and assets are distributed to heirs. Estate Administration can also include the distribution of assets from a Trust to the beneficiaries of that Trust.

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.

Tax Planning

General Tax Planning

Nobody wants to pay more taxes to the IRS than the law requires. Whether you are considering a business transaction, estate planning, a real estate deal or if you need advice concerning income, estate, gift, sales, or property taxes consult a tax attorney before you act in order to minimize your tax liability.

Estate Tax Planning

Nobody wants to pay more taxes to the IRS than the law requires. Still, developing an estate plan without tax planning is like buying a safe before you know what you need to protect.

Holland, Ray, Upchurch & Hillen, P.A. has developed a comprehensive approach to estate planning that helps our clients determine their legacy and by identifying their personal and professional objectives. Holland, Ray, Upchurch & Hillen, P.A. can develop estate planning and asset protection strategies to support the client’s objectives and to minimize estate taxes.

Trusts

Revocable Living Trusts

A Revocable Living Trust is a Will substitute which 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.

Irrevocable Trusts

These can be useful tax and nursing home planning tools. A typical “income only” irrevocable trust permits you to receive the income from your assets in exchange for the right to withdraw your principal. Tax reduction trusts are much more restrictive than asset protection trusts.

There are many Irrevocable Trusts available that are quite flexible and trustmaker-friendly. You should consult a qualified estate planning attorney so that you can get proper counseling on all your options before creating an Irrevocable Trust.

Incapacity and Disability Planning

Long Term Care Planning

At some point, most adults will likely need temporary or permanent help in meeting the requirements of daily life. This could be from illness, injury or simply the effects of aging. Long term care may be provided at home, at an adult day services location or in a nursing home or hospice facility.

Long term care expenses can decimate an estate. The goal of Long Term Care Planning is for you and your estate to be prepared.

Planning tools include long term care insurance, Medicaid planning, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, guardianships and health care directives. Much of this work falls under the category of Elder Law, an area of legal practice dealing with issues impacting older Americans.

Health Care Directives

Health Care Directives are a critical part of estate planning which serve two functions. First, they identify the individuals entrusted to make medical decisions for you when you lack decision-making capacity. Health Care Directives also set forth your specific health care wishes including end-of-life care decisions. Finally, Health Care Directives includes a HIPAA Authorization which allows your doctor to discuss your medical condition and medical records with your loved ones.

Health Care Directives include a Health Care Power of Attorney, a Living Will and HIPAA Authorization.

Incapacity and Disability Planning

Advancements in healthcare have dramatically increased American life spans. They have also dramatically increased the threat that personal incapacity or disability will deplete your estate. Proper planning for managing personal and financial matters during a period of incapacity is an essential part of estate planning.

Guardianships and Conservatorships

Legal proceedings that can result from improper incapacity or disability planning; a judge along with an attorney will be required to help to manage your affairs. Guardianships and conservatorships can add cost and delay to conducting your affairs.

Durable Powers of Attorney

A Durable Power of Attorney authorizes another person to sign his or her name on your behalf so that your financial affairs can be managed in the event you become incapacitated or disabled.

Revocable Living Trusts

A Revocable Living Trust is a Will substitute which 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.

Business Continuity Planning

Business Operations and Succession Planning

Since a business entity often constitutes the largest asset in an estate, planning for the continuation or sale of a business is an important means of asset protection. Tools include:

  1. Buy-sell agreements
  2. Partnership agreements
  3. Stock redemption agreements
  4. Business valuation
  5. Family succession planning
  6. Exit planning

    7. Formation, Operation and Dissolution of Limited Liability Companies, Corporations and Partnerships

    Business entity structures are a critical strategy used to achieve business objectives. By operating your business in the proper legal entity you can minimize your personal liability, ensure that the operational and financial matters in your business work properly and help minimize your tax liability.

    Buying, Selling or Merging an Existing Business

    Buying, selling or merging an existing business creates issues which involve tax liability, employment, compensation and future management of the business. All of these issues should be considered before you engage in any legally binding action.

ERISA

Family Law